Outsports website co-founder Cyd Zeigler could not be happier with this year's Dodgers-Red Sox World Series matchup. It's a "dream World Series for the LGBTQ community," declares Zeigler, the author of Fair Play, a book exploring how LGBT athletes "have claimed their rightful place in sport." He considers this year's Fall Classic extra special because the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers both have strong histories of supporting the LGBTQ community.
The Dodgers hold two LGBTQ-inclusive events each season, Zeigler writes. Their annual Pride Night is the biggest in all of sports, drawing about 7,000 participating fans in each of the past two years. "Plus their event goes above-and-beyond with rainbow flags, singers, opening pitchers, T-shirts, announcements, the KissCam (promoted in photo) ... you name it. The whole night is Pride Night," Zeigler raves.
L.A. also earns LGBTQ bonus points because senior vice-president Erik Braverman is "one of the league’s most powerful out LGBTQ people ... making him a key decision-maker for the team." The ever-inclusive Dodgers also featured retired gay athletes Billy Bean and Jason Collins (NBA) throwing out the first pitch at Pride Night in a recent season.
Boston is not about to be undone, Zeigler gushes. This week the Bosox awarded $200,000 to the neighborhood LGBTQ health center, Fenway Health, in honor of Spirit Day. The "Sawx" also hold annual Pride Nights AND they earn their bonus points by painting a rainbow Red Sox logo on the pitchers’ mound for those occasions! Would the team also paint a cross on the pitching mound during "Catholic Night" at Fenway Park? That's probably where the line gets drawn on "tolerance."
Wait, there's more! The Red Sox have their own publicly out employee: David Baggs, director of sales academy and season ticket sales.
Zeigler says the Red Sox and Dodgers both have deep histories with the LGBTQ community.
In the late 1970s, Glenn Burke was "quietly out in the locker room as a part of the Dodgers’ roster before homophobe Tommy Lasorda got rid of him. Billy Bean was also a member of the Dodgers in 1989 well before he came out." However, a video of the former L.A. manager Lasorda attending Pride Night is on YouTube for all the world to see, starting at 0:28.
Zeigler wrote a documentary on Burke, titled "Out", and stated:
"What’s remarkable about Burke is how out he was in the 1970s. Not in a 'Hey world, I’m gay” way, but in the sense that his teammates knew as did the management of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Burke’s first team.
"Eventually fans would taunt him from the outfield bleachers in Oakland by calling him a 'fag.' A memorable moment in 'Out' occurs when it is recalled that the Dodgers — trying to stifle rumors that a popular player was gay — offered Burke $75,000 to get married. His reply: 'I guess you mean to a woman?'”
The Dodgers later traded Burke to Oakland, stunning teammates. "His openness about his sexual orientation was a factor in him being traded," Zeigler says.
In 2005, the Red Sox worked with Bravo and had some of their players get makeovers for appearances on the TV show Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Those players were Johnny Damon, Kevin Millar, Doug Mirabelli, Jason Varitek and Tim Wakefield. An IMDb post gave the story line:
"The Fab Five fly to Florida to perform a makeover on Johnny Damon, Kevin Millar, Doug Mirabelli, Jason Varitek and Tim Wakefield of the Boston Red Sox, teaching them the joys of manscaping, seafood and fine couture. The Fab Five also help the Port Charlotte Little League, rebuilding their field, which was devastated by Hurricane Charley."
Back to the present, Zeigler is relieved that Houston and Milwaukee lost to Boston and L.A., respectively in the league championship series. These teams do not have nearly the LGBTQ-friendly résumés to match those of Boston and L.A. So by comparison to the dreamy World Series presently underway, a Fall Classic featuring the Brewers and Astros would have been a total dud.
