Local tennis official’s online posts out of bounds
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/08/2023 (809 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
The president of Tennis Manitoba has resigned after making offensive Facebook posts directed at the LGBTTQ+ community.
David Scrapneck agreed to step down after meeting with board members Wednesday night.
Vice-president Lillian Wong has been named interim president until the association holds its annual general meeting this fall.
Scrapneck occupied the position for a little more than a year.
He posted a photo earlier this week of children in the 1930s waving Nazi flags beside another photo of youngsters waving Pride rainbow flags, with the caption: “Same evil, different era.”
Scrapneck made another Facebook post shortly after, saying big pharmaceutical companies are making profits from transgender medical treatment. “People, stand up and fight this evil,” the lengthy post stated.
The posts have since been deleted.
Tennis Manitoba executive director Mark Arndt said the board took swift action.
“As an organization and as a sport, we have a long history of inclusion and acceptance for all ages, genders and identities — values that we’ll continue to enforce and uphold,” Arndt said.
Scrapneck served as president of the Kildonan Tennis Club from 1988 to 1991 and again from 2012 to 2021. He was a board member of Tennis Manitoba for 16 years before being named president of Tennis Manitoba.
Scrapneck accepted blame for the posts when contacted by a Free Press reporter Thursday.
“It was a mistake on my part,” he said in a phone call. “It’s very personal.”
Ashley Smith, director of advocacy with the Rainbow Resource Centre, said such online comments are nothing new.
“It’s harmful and transphobic and falls into what we call ‘dog whistle terms,’ which (means) it sounds like science but actually is just transphobia,” Smith said.
“When comments like this are made on social media, it translates into real-life, off-line harms. These obscene comments that are made, they create space for heated, hateful ‘debates’ about queer and trans people in places like sports, schools and regular life.
“These conversations in real life then embolden people to commit hate-motivated crimes.”
jfreysam@freepress.mb.ca
Twitter: @jfreysam
Josh Frey-Sam reports on sports and business at the Free Press. Josh got his start at the paper in 2022, just weeks after graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College. He reports primarily on amateur teams and athletes in sports. Read more about Josh.
Every piece of reporting Josh produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
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Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Josh Frey-Sam reports on sports and business at the Free Press. Josh got his start at the paper in 2022, just weeks after graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College. He reports primarily on amateur teams and athletes in sports. Read more about Josh.
Every piece of reporting Josh produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
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History
Updated on Thursday, August 3, 2023 4:42 PM CDT: Removes photo