ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) About 100 gay rights protesters picketed before the Orlando Miracle's game Thursday night after a top executive of the WNBA team sent a letter to the City Council opposing a proposed ordinance that would ban discrimination against homosexuals.

Pat Williams, senior vice president of RDV Sports, the parent company of the Miracle and the NBA's Magic, sent a form letter to Orlando council members last month urging them to establish "objective standards" before passing the ordinance.

Those standards, the letter said, should include proof that local discrimination against gays is widespread and has caused them economic hardship, and show that homosexuality, like race, is beyond a person's control.

That letter has angered many in Orlando's gay community, particularly lesbians, who make up a significant segment of the Miracle's fan base. Some are threatening a boycott.

Lynn Lawrence, a Miracle season ticket-holder, held a sign outside TD Waterhouse Centre before Thursday night's game against Sacramento that read: "Women $upport WNBA."

"The fact that some people don't want us to have any rights in incredible," Lawrence said.

The protesters were not allowed to bring their signs inside.

Williams, who spent 12 years as general manager of the Philadelphia 76ers before joining the Magic in 1986, was not at Thursday's game. He issued a statement Wednesday, calling the letter "a personal action." Williams said he received the information at his church months ago and was just one of many church members who mailed the letter.

Williams, 62, didn't explain why the letter was mailed in a company envelope, which lists his name above the Orlando Magic title and RDV Sports mailing address, or why the company's mail meter was used to stamp it.

John Weisbrod, RDV Sports' chief operating officer, said that Williams' assistant mailed the letter after Williams signed it and that it didn't reflect the company's opinion.

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