GAYS IN PROFESSIONAL SPORTS

[bluepride]

So Collins made his debut as an openly gay player. OK. Anti-climactic moment. He's a veteran who is hanging on to his career by a thread. But he helped the Nets team last night after being signed to a 10 day contract. And he was enthusiastically welcomed by the fans and fellow players. But he was all business when he played, as he was supposed to be. That's what it's all about. I'm not a big basketball fan but I did watch some of the game after watching True Detective. I believe he played for a total of 11 minutes during the game, which is not bad. All in all, a good night. Not a Jackie Robinson moment by any means but a good night. When someone's sexual orientation is not an issue for a player, that will be gravy! And this was a nice step in that direction!

[bluepride]

Brewers minor-leaguer makes baseball history by coming out publicly as gay

For so long, David Denson desperately wanted to reveal to his baseball teammates that he is gay. He just never envisioned it happening in such impromptu and unstructured fashion.

A first baseman for the Milwaukee Brewers' rookie affiliate in Helena, Mont., Denson had just entered the clubhouse a month or so ago when a teammate jokingly referred to him using a derogatory term for a gay male. It was the kind of profane, politically incorrect banter heard in that environment since team sports have been around.

That teammate had no way of knowing Denson actually is gay, but the 20-year-old slugger of African-American and Hispanic descent quickly seized the opportunity.

"Be careful what you say. You never know," Denson cautioned the player with a smile.

Before he knew it, Denson was making the emotional announcement he yearned to share, and the group around him expanded to the point that he soon was speaking to most of the team. Much to Denson's relief, when the conversation ended he was greeted with outward support and understanding instead of condemnation.

"Talking with my teammates, they gave me the confidence I needed, coming out to them," recalled Denson. "They said, 'You're still our teammate. You're still our brother. We kind of had an idea, but your sexuality has nothing to do with your ability. You're still a ballplayer at the end of the day. We don't treat you any different. We've got your back.'

"That was a giant relief for me," Denson said. "I never wanted to feel like I was forcing it on them. It just happened. The outcome was amazing. It was nice to know my teammates see me for who I am, not my sexuality."

The more Denson thought about it, though, the more he came to realize that a clubhouse confession wasn't going to be enough. Until he came out publicly as gay and released that burden, Denson didn't think he could truly blossom and realize his potential on the field.

With the help of former major-leaguer Billy Bean, who last year was named Major League Baseball's first Ambassador for Inclusion, Denson reached out to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel to tell his story in a telephone interview. In doing so, he becomes the first active player in affiliated professional baseball to reveal he is gay.

Sean Conroy, a pitcher for the Sonoma Stompers of the independent Pacific Association, revealed in June that he is gay, becoming the first active pro baseball player to do so. That league is not affiliated with MLB. In the history of the game, only two major-leaguers revealed they were gay — Glenn Burke and Bean — and both did so after leaving the game.

Former NBA player Jason Collins announced that he is gay after the 2013 season when he was a free agent. Collins played in 22 games with the Brooklyn Nets in 2014 before retiring, and therefore was the first active player in one of the major team sports to reveal he is gay.

When Denson learned of Bean and his new role with MLB, he reached out for advice and counsel, and the two have become like brothers. Bean long has rued not revealing his sexuality during his modest big-league career from 1987-'95 with Detroit, the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego, and said he is immensely proud of Denson for having the courage to come forward.

"He is definitely cognizant of how it might affect his team," said Bean, who eventually quit baseball over the personal conflict of hiding his sexuality. "I just wanted to make sure his parents were part of the conversation. David has two loving parents who obviously are very concerned. They're worried about how this will affect him.

"Any player who happens to be gay and is a professional and has kept that secret, they just want to be judged for their baseball or football or basketball ability. David would not be playing professional baseball if he wasn't an excellent baseball player.

"The beauty of what could come from this is he can be an example that can help change that perception and change the stereotype that there would never be a gay person on a men's professional sports team. That was something I struggled with."

Before revealing his secret to teammates, Denson figured it was time to finally tell his family, and did so in the spring. First, he told his sister, Celestine, a professional dancer married to former Brewers farmhand Jose Sermo.

"She said, 'I've known since you were little,'" said Denson. "I said, 'How did you know?' She said, 'You're my little brother. I'm around you all the time.'"

Telling his parents, Lamont and Felisa, was not as easy. His father, a former athlete, needed some time to come to grips with the news.

"It took some stress off me, but it kind of built up a wall at the same time," said Denson. "They weren't too happy about it at first, though I think they sort of knew since I was little. They were afraid I'd be judged. They jumped right into the stereotype. No parents want to see their child discriminated against and talked about and put down.

"I don't question that they love me. They never said they were upset about me being gay. It was harder on my dad than my mom. He's a very hard-core Christian and he goes off the Bible and all that, which I completely understand, growing up in the church. I'm a Christian myself.

"It was an eye-opener for him. He finally came to terms with it. Coming out to my father was even harder than coming out to my teammates, because I knew how he felt about it. He grew up in sports, and I heard him talk (in derogatory fashion) about gay guys. That was hard for me to hear at the time.

"But I'm his son and he said, 'It's your life and it's who you are. I love you.' There's a difference between accepting it, and supporting it and respecting it. I know he loves me and supports me and has my back."

Denson had concealed the fact he is gay since being taken by the Brewers in the 15th round of the 2013 draft out of South Hills High School in West Covina, Calif. But the secret began to weigh more heavily on him, to the point he felt on the verge of a mental breakdown — or worse — at the outset of spring training this year.

"It became a depression level," he revealed. "I wasn't being myself. It was visible in my body language. I didn't know if I should still stay in the sport."

Denson sought advice from Becky Schnakenberg, a professional counselor contracted at that time by the Brewers to provide mental health assistance to players in need. He said those consultations convinced him it was necessary to let the Brewers know he is gay or risk a further downward spiral.

Denson requested a meeting at the Brewers minor-league complex with farm director Reid Nichols, who was accompanied by Class A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers manager Matt Erickson and hitting coordinator Jeremy Reed.

"I was shaking and crying, and just very scared," recalled Denson. "I didn't know if it would go good or bad, or if they'd look at me any different.

"When I finally told them about my sexuality, Reid said, 'To me, it doesn't matter. You're still a ballplayer. My goal for you, as well as anybody else in the organization, is to get you to the big leagues. You are who you are. That doesn't make a difference. Just go out and play the game. This is a very brave thing for you to do.'

"I wasn't doing it to be brave. I just couldn't hide it anymore. For them to be so accepting and want the best for me, it showed they are looking at me for my ability, not my sexuality. They don't treat me any different. They said if there was anything they could do to help, let them know. It was a huge relief."

Nichols said his message to Denson at the time was simple: Concentrate on developing as a player with the knowledge that the organization was behind him.

"I told him we supported him and would continue to support him," said Nichols. "I thought the meeting went well. We told him that was his personal business and we would judge him only on his career in baseball, as we do with every player."

Denson was assigned to the Timber Rattlers, for whom he had played 68 games in 2014, batting .243 with four home runs and 29 runs batted in. The second time around, he struggled mightily at the plate, hitting only .195 with a .569 OPS in 24 games before being sent to Helena to regroup.

Denson was convinced the personal torment over concealing his sexuality from teammates contributed to his struggles on the field.

"There was that stereotype stuck in my head that there would never be a gay player on a team," he said. "I was thinking that once they found out, they would shut me out or treat me different.

"That was one of the things that was holding me back. I was always saying, 'Just keep it quiet. You don't need to tell them. You don't want them to see you different. You don't want them to judge you.'

"It started to affect my game because I was so caught up in trying to hide it. I was so concerned about how they would feel. I was pushing my feelings aside. Finally, I came to terms with this is who I am and not everybody is going to accept it. Once you do that, it's a blessing in itself."

Since coming out to his Helena teammates, Denson said he has felt like a different person and player. He was selected for the Pioneer League All-Star Game in August and was named most valuable player, displaying his prodigious power with a home run.

As for Denson's teammates living and playing with a gay player, Helena manager Tony Diggs said: "I don't think there have been any problems whatsoever with the team. I'm pretty sure everybody on our team has an understanding of it.

"We are professional baseball players first, and I think that's the way they've taken it. They've handled it well. David has always gone about his business professionally. He has shared with me that (keeping the secret for so long) was a burden for him and he feels more freedom after coming out.

"This is a new chapter as he decides to say it publicly. Now, there will be more people that know and they'll have their opinions as to what they feel about it. At least, he's being himself."

With growing confidence and peace of mind, Denson hopes for understanding from those now learning about his sexuality. Rather than holding him back in any way, he believes coming out will help him reach his full potential.

"Growing up trying to hide it, knowing I'm an athlete, I was always nervous that my sexuality would get in the way of me ever having an opportunity, that people would judge me on my sexuality and not my ability," he said.

"I wasn't able to give fully of myself because I was living in fear. What if this person finds out? What if somebody else finds out? Instead of going out and just playing, I was trying to hide myself.

"I didn't get drafted because of my sexuality. I didn't start playing this game because of my sexuality. I started playing this game and got drafted because I have a love for this game. It's a release for me to finally be able to give all of myself to the game, without having to be afraid or hide or worry about the next person who might find out."

If Denson can serve as a role model for other gay professional athletes hiding their sexuality, he welcomes the opportunity to help others as Bean has helped him. He's not sure what public reaction will be or how his story will be treated by the media going forward. If the folks at "60 Minutes" come calling, so be it. But there are no hidden agendas with Denson or Bean.

"David is not doing this for celebrity or publicity," said Bean, who has remained in constant contact with Denson, using his own experiences as a compass. "David is very humble. It's really about being his best self. He's a great baseball player, but he needs to be his best self to get to the big leagues.

"I was just starting to understand how to play and when everything started to unravel, I just gave up on myself. I was consumed with the part I hated about my life.

"I'm excited to see David not have to worry about all of that. He can just tell the truth all the time. That's a huge relief. When your life is a secret, you have to navigate on what levels of truth you're allowed to share. And that becomes exhausting."

What if this revelation in some way prevents Denson from attaining his goal of making the major leagues? He is not considered an elite prospect in the Brewers' organization, but any player with his kind of power has a chance. During a showcase at Marlins Park in Miami before the 2013 draft, Denson crushed several home runs, including a 515-foot blast that scouts still talk about.

Football player Michael Sam, who revealed he is gay after his college career at Missouri, was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in 2014 but didn't make the roster and recently cited mental health issues for leaving the Montreal team of the Canadian Football League. Did coming out prevent Sam from securing an NFL roster spot, or was he just not good enough?

"I don't have any expectations of what might happen," said Denson, who is batting .253 with four homers and 17 RBI in 41 games with Helena. "I'm hoping it will open the eyes of people in general that we're all people, we're human, we're brothers in the sport. We're all here trying to get to the big leagues. I'm excited to see where it goes from here, now that I don't have that wall holding me back anymore.

"It has crossed my mind (that his revelation could be an obstacle). Baseball has taught me a lot of life lessons. One is to worry about what you can control and not worry about what you can't control. I'm going to go out and do the best I can do, and hopefully make it one day.

"I think what I do on the field will matter more than my sexuality. At the end of the day, if I'm playing well, why should I not get the same opportunity as anyone else?"


READ ARTICLE HERE:     Brewers minor-leaguer makes baseball history by coming out publicly as gay


Awesome news for this young man!  Even though he is in low-A ball, he has a great future ahead of him if he develops properly and works hard. His team backs him and he already had a good reputation. We've all waited for a MLB player to come out and now it has happened, even if he is just starting his career. I hope he has a long, healthy and happy future. And please....no "Dancing With The Stars" or any of that show-biz reality show nonsense.  Do your job and make us even prouder!

[bluepride]

Los Angeles Dodgers executive Erik Braverman comes out as gay to inspire youth

Watching the game from the owner's box at the Los Angeles Dodgers' LGBT Pride Night last June was a transformative moment for team executive Erik Braverman.

As the Dodgers' vice-president of marketing and broadcasting it had been Braverman, with the encouragement of his boss, longtime Los Angeles sports stalwart Lon Rosen, who helped launch the LGBT event several years ago.

This year the duo decided to amp up the event in a big way. They didn't want to just sell tickets, they aimed to shake things up in baseball, host an LGBT event that would get people talking not just about the Dodgers but about the community in general. Billy Bean, the openly gay former Dodger, had been a part of the old-timers game earlier this year and that couldn't have gone better. The team was ready to wrap Dodger Stadium in rainbows, and that's exactly what they did.

Braverman stood in the owner's box that night midway through the ballgame and took in the atmosphere that just years ago he thought literally impossible. E.J. Johnson, the out son of Dodgers co-owner Magic Johnson, was there in all his glory. Openly gay country music star Ty Herndon, who had flown in to sing the Star-Spangled Banner before the game, was trading stories with singer and TV personality Lance Bass and his husband.
"If they see somebody like Erik out there who is able to do this publicly, if it helps them it helps the world. It makes the world a better place." -Lon Rosen

PR guru Howard Bragman chatted with long-time friend Rosen, Magic's long-time confidant and business partner and a straight married man, who spent the better part of the game hobnobbing with the gays. Billy Bean, MLB's hand-picked Ambassador For Inclusion, took in the game with UCLA softball coach Kirk Walker.

Across the stadium were another thousand or more LGBT fans sipping a special pride-inspired cocktail, wearing rainbow hats the Dodgers had brought in for the game, as rainbow flags flashed on the screens along the infield and outfield. It was the gayest Dodger Stadium had been since Elton John performed there in 1975.

All of it was Braverman's doing.

Watching his Dodgers celebrate the LGBT community, standing in the owner's box, something finally clicked for him.

To be sure, Braverman was already out to much of the LGBT community. He is well-known in the local and national gay softball leagues. His life is full of gay friends, and his weekends often find him straying into the gay bars along Robertson and Santa Monica Blvds. in Los Angeles.

His home in West Hollywood has become a gathering place for a huge circle of his gay friends, many of them with keys of their own. There are few nights Braverman comes home even during the season and someone isn't watching a movie with a glass of wine in his living room.

Yet inside baseball - even within Dodger Stadium - Braverman held back his private life, his truth, his identity.

"I didn't want anyone to, in any way, not view me for the quality of my work," Braverman told Outsports. "I don't want to be know as the gay executive who happens to run marketing and broadcasting for the Dodgers. I want my accomplishments and my job to be first and foremost and speak for themselves."

Since starting Outsports in 1999, I had from time to time asked Braverman if it was time yet to share his story. I had met him playing in the L.A. gay basketball league before Jim Buzinski and I had started Outsports, and long before Braverman was working in Major League Baseball. As he ascended the ranks at ESPN Radio and then the Dodgers, I kept on him, a gnat that buzzed in his ear once every couple of years.


A few weeks ago I sent him an email titled, "Is it time?"

It was only minutes before he replied: "I think the time is right."

There are lots of reasons people in sports come out publicly. Braverman isn't remotely doing this for himself, content with living his lifelong dream in baseball even if it's meant some people may ask the occasional question about a missing girlfriend.

For him this is the last step to burying his fears as a kid and helping other LGBT people interested in a career in baseball take the leap.

Growing up in Texas and realizing at a young age that he was gay, the idea of working in sports was an impossibility. He realized he was gay as a sophomore in high school. Even then he began to subtly push sports away. Like so many youth then and today, for Braverman sports and homophobia went hand-in-hand. The language, the machismo, the bravado - All of it sent a constant message that he didn't belong.

"When I discovered my own sexuality at an early age, it created a lot of conflict. I struggled with being a baseball player in Texas dealing with who I was. So baseball took a back seat when I was dealing with my own internal struggles."

He had found his way past some of his fear in gay sports leagues, merging his identity as a gay man with that of amateur - and highly successful - athlete. He won five straight gay world championships with the L.A. Stray Cats, then won three more with the L.A. Vipers. Having played high school and junior college baseball, Braverman was an asset at short stop to any team.

Yet walking the halls of ESPN Radio, and now the Los Angeles Dodgers, has always felt a bit different. Dodger Stadium isn't a softball diamond in West Hollywood, it's literally the Big League.
"I think that's part of why I struggled personally. I didn't have any role models or examples or anyone to look up to as a possibility."

"What kept me in the closet was the perception that Major League Baseball and pro sports in general aren't open-minded," Braverman said. "The feeling that, right or wrong, it's not an open and accepting environment. And I grew up in a time when to succeed, and not have your sexual orientation used against you, you lived a double life"

While this will be the first time some in the Dodgers organization have ever heard that Braverman is gay, he has over the last few years slipped quietly out of the closet in Chavez Ravine.

So far Braverman has found support in sports at every turn. Rosen, who was part of Magic's support team when he revealed his HIV status publicly, and who helped the family navigate the public coming-out party of E.J., has been Braverman's strongest advocate within the organization, using him as a consultant on all things LGBT.

"If by doing this it helps somebody out there who wants to work in sports, or whatever they want to do, if they see somebody like Erik out there who is able to do this publicly, if it helps them it helps the world," Rosen said. "It makes the world a better place."

Even with all the support, some element of concern still lingers in some of the recesses of Braverman's mind. Of particular curiosity is how some of the older Dodgers legends will feel about this new cornerstone of the team being gay. As vice-president of marketing and broadcasting, Braverman works closely with a number of them. Braverman is confident that the bonds of Dodger blue will overcome any possible issues.

"I don't think this in any way is going to change my relationship with any of the legends," he said.

Even with the lingering questions, Braverman is talking about being gay in MLB now so that every LGBT person who might wonder if they can be out and work in professional baseball never again has to ask themselves that question .

"I did not have that when I was growing up," he said. "I think that's part of why I struggled personally. I didn't have any role models or examples or anyone to look up to as a possibility."
Five publicly out MLB team execs


Braverman isn't alone in baseball. He is now the fifth person with a Major League Baseball team front office to come out publicly in the last few years. More are coming. This March the League will host its annual Diversity Business Summit in Phoenix, and MLB Inclusion Ambassador Billy Bean is proactively recruiting LGBT candidates to attend. Between the stories of out executives and the recruitment of new faces, along with the previous hiring of Bean and the coming-out this season of Minor Leaguer David Denson, MLB has become the model of inclusion for men's pro sports in North America.

All of that has helped make today possible for Braverman.

"The fact that I'm talking about it publicly today is remarkable. If there are kids in junior high and high school and college, or even if they are older, if they see me and realize it's a possibility, then that's a great reason to do this." --Article by Cy Zeigler...Outsports.....


READ ARTICLE HERE: Los Angeles Dodgers executive Erik Braverman comes out as gay to inspire youth