Are there any gay major league baseball players

Peter Dreier does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. Since then, attitudes and laws about homosexuality have changed.

High-profile figures in business, politics, show business, education, the media, the military and sports have come out of the closet. Athletes in three of the five major U. But among the more than 20, men who have played major league baseball, not one has publicly come out of the closet while still in uniform. Bean played for the Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres for parts of six seasons, hiding his homosexuality from his friends, fans and teammates at great emotional cost.

Remembering Billy Bean, pioneering gay outfielder who challenged baseball’s homophobia

He quit baseball in and four years later publicly came out. Bean was the second major league baseball player to come out of the closet after hanging up his spikes. You heard them everywhere then. There is a strong current of fundamentalist Christianity within baseball, which could make life uncomfortable for openly gay players.

Even as players on big-league rosters stay in the closet, MLB and individual teams have taken steps to make baseball more inclusive for LGBTQ employees and fans. Billie Jean Kingthe former tennis star who, inbecame the first openly gay high-profile sports figure, is now part-owner of the Dodgers.

Ina lesbian couple was ejected from Dodger Stadium for kissing. And despite the occasional homophobic epithet that continues to emerge from their ranks, more and more straight baseball players have expressed support for the LGBTQ community over the past couple of decades.

InReds outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. If you can play, you can play. It takes courage to be your true self when your identity has been used as an insult or a pejorative. Some hope that the first pro ballplayer to come out will be a star. Or the first gay big-leaguer could simply emerge from the prospect pipeline.

In the past decade, two openly gay ballplayers — David Denson and Sean Conroy — played in the minor leagues. A third minor leaguer, Bryan Ruby, played as an infielder for the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes, part of an independent professional league in Oregon, came out in September There are growing numbers of openly gay college players, and the best of them could ascend the professional ranks into the majors.

If you are going to wait for everybody to be ready, nobody will do it. Edition: Europe. While the league has taken steps to make baseball more welcoming for LGBTQ employees and fans, no active player has come out. Peter DreierOccidental College. Author Peter Dreier E. And is baseball ready for its gay Jackie Robinson?