North Ameri's four biggt pro sports leagu have had only 2 openly gay active players | CNN

Contents:

• 9 BASEBALL PLAYERS WHO CAME OUT AS GAY
• CELEBRATG LGBTQ SPORTS HISTORY: THE ONLY MLB TEAM WH PLAYERS WHO HAVE E OUT AS GAY
• HOW MANY OPENLY GAY MLB PLAYERS HAVE BEEN THERE? HONORG LGBTQ INS OF BASEBALL ON PRI NIGHT
• 'IT'S ABOUT DAMN TIME FOR THIS:' BRYAN RUBY BE ONLY ACTIVE PRO BASEBALL PLAYER TO BE OUT AS GAY
• JAGUARS ASSISTANT STRENGTH AND NDNG ACH KEV MAXEN OUT PUBLICLY AS GAY
• BRYAN RUBY BE FIRST ACTIVE PRO BASEBALL PLAYER TO E OUT PUBLICLY AS GAY
• FORMER MAJOR LEAGUE PCHER T.J. HOE OUT AS GAY
• FIRST OPENLY GAY PRO PLAYER, SEAN CONROY, GETS SHUTOUT HISTORIC START
• NORTH AMERI’S FOUR BIGGT PRO SPORTS LEAGU HAVE BEEN AROUND A BED 398 YEARS. THEY’VE HAD TWO OPENLY GAY ACTIVE PLAYERS
• FAMEWATCHER SEARCH PRIMARY MENU SKIP TO NTENT HOMECELEBRY HAIR TRANSPLANTCELEBRY PLASTIC SURGERYCELEBRY LEATHER JACKETBODY SHAPER SEARCH FOR: GAY MALE ATHLET, HOT BASEBALL PLAYERSGAY BASEBALL PLAYERS LIST: MLB AND MOR LEAGUERS
• COLLEGE & PROFSNAL ATHLET WHO ARE OPENLY GAY
• GLENN BURKE: MLB’S FIRST OPENLY GAY PLAYER
• STATISTICS SAY THERE ARE DOZENS OF GAY PRO BASEBALL PLAYERS

9 BASEBALL PLAYERS WHO CAME OUT AS GAY

The prsure toward acceptg pri players baseball may be why homosexual players who e out as gay before or after retirement have a short reer. Later, terviewg wh SB natn outsports, he mentns hearg anti-gay slurs by teammat the locker room or gam felt like havg a knife the heart.

Sce 2016, no homophobic slur has been chanted for the first time, and looks like MLB is dog s bt to change the perspective toward homosexual players. An outfielr for the Los Angel Dodgers and the Oakland A's between 1976 and 1979, Glenn Burke beme the first Major League Baseball player to e out as gay to teammat and owners while still active, though the team asked that he keep his sexualy secret om the public and he plied.

CELEBRATG LGBTQ SPORTS HISTORY: THE ONLY MLB TEAM WH PLAYERS WHO HAVE E OUT AS GAY

@billybeanballThe only livg Major League Baseball veteran who has e out as gay, outfielr Billy Bean played for the Tigers, Dodgers, and Padr over a reer that spanned om 1987 to 1995.

HOW MANY OPENLY GAY MLB PLAYERS HAVE BEEN THERE? HONORG LGBTQ INS OF BASEBALL ON PRI NIGHT

He me out four years after retirg om the field, and wrote his 2003 book Gog the Other Way: Lsons From a Life and Out of Major League Baseball that the bullyg and homophobic world of baseball led him to walk away om pro ball. @_DavidD_41A first baseman for the Helena Brewers, rhe Milwkee Brewers' rookie affiliate team Montana, David Denson 2015 beme the first player affiliated wh Major League Baseball to e out as gay. @DunngtonTylerA pcher for rookie and Class A teams affiliated wh the Cardals 2014, Dunngton told Outsports he left pro ball bee of homophobia.

'IT'S ABOUT DAMN TIME FOR THIS:' BRYAN RUBY BE ONLY ACTIVE PRO BASEBALL PLAYER TO BE OUT AS GAY

"I experienced both ach and players make remarks on killg gay people durg my time baseball, and each ment felt like a knife to my heart, " he said. Durg an 11-year mor league reer, John Dillger would vis bear gathergs on the road but kept his gay sexualy secret up until his retirement 2005.

JAGUARS ASSISTANT STRENGTH AND NDNG ACH KEV MAXEN OUT PUBLICLY AS GAY

@tampaMarkJWhen Mark Johnson and teammat won a champnship for the Universy of Tampa 1998, he still was nial about his gay sexualy, he told Outsports, but he beme more nfint over his adult life. When Tyson Lk, director of baseball operatns at the Universy of South Carola, cid on Natnal Comg Out Day 2016 to publicly reveal he was gay, he beme the first person Divisn I llege baseball to ever e out as LGBT. An umpire for Major League Baseball most notable for a rather famo row wh Pete Rose, Dave Pallone would eventually be ducted to the first class of the Natnal Gay and Lbian Sports Hall of Fame.

Today, as the Los Angel Dodgers prepare to play the World Seri agast the Tampa Bay Rays, -founr Jim Buzski remds that the Dodgers anchise is a part of LGBTQ sports history as havg the only two MLB players who ever were public about beg gay.

BRYAN RUBY BE FIRST ACTIVE PRO BASEBALL PLAYER TO E OUT PUBLICLY AS GAY

Not a “Hey world, I’m gay” way, but the sense that his teammat knew as did the management of the Los Angel Dodgers, Burke’s first team. ” A memorable moment “Out” occurs when is relled that the Dodgers — tryg to stifle mors that a popular player was gay — offered Burke $75, 000 to get married. The Dodgers and their manager, Tom Lasorda, prented a versn of themselv as a clean-cut, All-Amerin team and a flamboyantly gay player uld not be tolerated, pecially one who hung out wh Lasorda’s gay son.

While baseball is still wag for s first openly gay active MLB player, Bean’s elevatn to a posn of thory the missner’s office is a sign that thgs have changed sce the days when Glenn Burke was lled a faggot by his manager. As the MLB ntu embracg the LGBTQ muny, the players have also taken steps towards clivens wh Chigo Whe Sox pcher, Anrson Comás, g out as openly gay.

FORMER MAJOR LEAGUE PCHER T.J. HOE OUT AS GAY

Although Anrson Comás is only the send openly gay MLB player to e out while actively wh an anizatn, the Chigo Whe Sox, he is far om the first openly gay player to play profsnal baseball. "Former Player of The Day - Billy Bean - Outfielr, #Padr #Tigers #Dodgers #PlayerOfTheDay" - @GayBaseballFanIt has been a long road, but thanks to pneers such as Glenn Burke, Billy Bean, David Denson, and Anrson Comás, baseball is beg a more welg place for everyone.

Yet 's Ruby's hidn part of his inty that he now believ n have the biggt impact, partially bee 's so foreign to the worlds of baseball and untry is a gay man, the only active profsnal baseball player at any level to be publicly out. " FOLLOW THE MONEY: MLB player salari and payrolls for every major league teamHis g out follows a summer which Las Vegas Rairs fensive end Carl Nassib and Nashville Predators prospect Le Prokop also me out as gay. “As a untry mic songwrer, at first I thought beg gay was a huge weakns, ” said Ruby, who will be showsed the upg documentary, "Out Nashville.

FIRST OPENLY GAY PRO PLAYER, SEAN CONROY, GETS SHUTOUT HISTORIC START

"It's not all super rosy, " Ruby ach om past generatns have been subtly homophobic, urgg him to keep his sexual orientatn a secret or to be wh a woman to keep up a ont. (Jam Gilbert/Getty Imag)Jacksonville Jaguars assistant strength ach Kev Maxen me out publicly as gay Thursday, which mak him the first known openly gay male ach the NFL and all of Amerin men’s profsnal joed the Jaguars’ strength and ndng staff last season. Tampa Bay Bucneers fensive end Carl Nassib beme the league’s first active openly gay player when he me out 2021, when he was wh the Las Vegas Rairs.

Former San Francis 49ers assistant Katie Sowers ma history as both the first woman and first openly gay ach a Super Bowl was a lebacker at Wtern Connecticut State, a Divisn III program. Bryan Ruby envisns a better world of cln and thenticy baseball, so he's sharg his story to be part of the is the latt profsnal male athlete this summer to talk so openly about beg gay by speakg wh USA Today Sports' Stt Gleon.

NORTH AMERI’S FOUR BIGGT PRO SPORTS LEAGU HAVE BEEN AROUND A BED 398 YEARS. THEY’VE HAD TWO OPENLY GAY ACTIVE PLAYERS

His story follows those of Carl Nassib the NFL and Le Prokop the speaks openly about beg gayRuby, 25, plays for the Salem-Keizer Volno. (Photo by Mchell Layton/Getty Imag)Billy Bean me out as gay after his retirement the 1990s and is now the league's vice print and special assistant to the missner. Hoe me out as gay and announced his engagement to his partner, Ryan Nezel, an emotnal social media post, who pched for the Cleveland Indians and the Toronto Blue Jays om 2014 to 2017, said he lived out his childhood dream of playg profsnal baseball Cleveland at 23, but that he ed as a “dg” to “numb what was really gog on si.

FAMEWATCHER SEARCH PRIMARY MENU SKIP TO NTENT HOMECELEBRY HAIR TRANSPLANTCELEBRY PLASTIC SURGERYCELEBRY LEATHER JACKETBODY SHAPER SEARCH FOR: GAY MALE ATHLET, HOT BASEBALL PLAYERSGAY BASEBALL PLAYERS LIST: MLB AND MOR LEAGUERS

-- Baseball history was ma Northern California we untry Thursday night when the sport's first active profsnal player to e out as gay pched a shutout before an enthiastic crowd that seemed more imprsed wh his performance than his role as a Conroy, 23, led the Sonoma Stompers to a 7-0 victory durg his first start wh the 22-man team that is part of the pennt Pacific Associatn of Baseball Clubs.

"The atmosphere at Arnold Field, the Stompers' 370-seat home field, was low-key, wh no obv signs was a historic game or even gay pri night at the ballpark -- except for the rabow-striped socks and arm warmers some players (but not Conroy) Stompers did not make a special announcement or ll attentn to the tone so Conroy uld foc on his pchg, general manager Theo Fightmaster the startg lp was announced, however, Conroy got the loust cheer. "We've had gay people here forever; 's not like 's a big al, " said Barry Bosshard, who along wh his wife, Lra, is puttg up Conroy and another player at their home durg the Stompers' 78-game season. Fightmaster says Conroy privately shared his sexual orientatn wh teammat and management before agreeg to e out publicly time for the team's gay pri night.

COLLEGE & PROFSNAL ATHLET WHO ARE OPENLY GAY

"His goal has always been to be the first openly gay baseball player, so he was very much favor of tellg the story, of rryg that torch, " he Do, 67, attend the game wh 25 iends om a lol group for LGBT senrs and was one of three fans picked to throw out a first pch. "While this pcher who was unknown to me before your ll may not be a prospect for Major League Baseball, he certaly serv our applse, " Thorn, who had earned four sav as a closer for the Stompers before takg the mound as a starter for the first time, said he told his fay he was gay at age 16 and was open wh his high school, summer league and llege teams. "It don't matter if he pch the big leagu or not; he's gog to bee a lear (tonight) many ways, " Bean 's history-makg start me at a watershed moment for gay rights, wh the U.

GLENN BURKE: MLB’S FIRST OPENLY GAY PLAYER

Supreme Court schled to le any day now on whether to make same-sex marriage legal across the Vogler, 50, -owner of a lol pany that sponsors LGBT tours and events we untry, marveled om behd a fence not far om the tcher as he watched Conroy throw some of what turn out to be 140 grew up another part of Sonoma County and left as soon as he uld bee the anti-gay hostily was so high.

The Las Vegas Rairs fensive end is now jt one of two openly gay active players the history of the four biggt North Amerin sports leagu (the Natnal Football League, Natnal Basketball Associatn, Major League Baseball and the Natnal Hockey League).

STATISTICS SAY THERE ARE DOZENS OF GAY PRO BASEBALL PLAYERS

Homophobic language is still a regular feature of playg on a boys’ sports team the US and abroad, Denison’s rearch shows – one of his studi found that more than half of the ice hockey and gby players he terviewed said they’d ed slurs. Regular exposure to slurs or stereotyp eventually rerc among players that their succs as an athlete is tied to an ia of masculy that exclus gay men, he said. Denison scribed what he lls a “cycle of excln” that begs when a boy hears ach or olr players e homophobic language and observ a “posive rponse” to that behavr – maybe they lgh at each other, or the ach don’t challenge them, he said.

That sends the msage that homophobic language is harmls and OK to e – and cements the assumptn that all members of the team are heterosexual. “We often fd that male ach ntue to e homophobic language and teach nformy to this tough mascule athlete inty that don’t really exist, ” he said.