Indiana's governor sucks. I think we can all agree that prejudice against any race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual identity is BS. As a liberal community that understands this sentiment, we’ve publicly rallied against Indiana’s bogus “religious freedom” law here in the Bay. But believe it or not, backasswards thinking isn’t limited to Indiana — as some responses to the Oakland A’s recently announced LGBT Pride Night on June 17th prove.
Considering a majority of teams host an LGBT night (the Giants have theirs on June 26th), it’s great to see Oakland joining in the fold. But as the San Francisco Chronicle’s Ann Killion outlined, ignorance is still prevalent and acceptance for these nights isn’t totally widespread yet. It’s an alarming reality check as to how many people still need to be educated on issues of tolerance and equality, when even in the Bay area, where the LGBT community is an important part of our cultural identity, comments like these are being surfaced on social media:
“Parents please note this, not a game you want to take your kids to”
and
“Are the players going to prance from base to base? Is the starting pitcher going to literally throw like a girl on purpose? Is the team going to have rainbow theme uniforms?”
and
“Whaaaaaat? Thanks for the warning, I will be sure not to be there on that night!”
But through this negativity, hope and action has risen. Eireann Dolan, the girlfriend of Oakland A’s pitcher Sean Doolittle, has taken matters into her own hands. Dolan, who grew up in a loving household with two moms, has offered to buy any unwanted tickets for the game and donate them to local youths in hopes of filling the stadium. Doolittle has even agreed to match all of her purchases. Dolan eloquently laid out her thoughts and offer in her blog:
If you'd like to sell your tickets to June 17th's LGBT Pride Night game, I will buy them from you at face value. As many as I can. No judgments. No questions asked.
From there, I will donate any tickets I purchase to the Bay Area Youth Center's Our Space community for LGBTQ youth.
That way you don't have to feel uncomfortable, and the seats don't go to waste. It's win-win.
Bravo Ms. Dolan. And here’s hoping that baseball fans across the Bay are inspired by her actions and attend the game as a show of support for the equality and acceptance that we stand for in the Bay area.
(Full transcript of Eireann’s letter from her blog is below):
Dear season ticket holders who wish to sell their tickets for LGBT Pride Night,
Everybody is entitled to their own beliefs and as long as nobody is getting hurt, I'm happy. I also can't stop you from selling your tickets. I won't tell you that you are wrong or that you are not allowed to think or act that way.
We live in a free country, after all. You are free to think and say and do whatever you'd like. In fact just this morning I used my freedom to eat yogurt with a steak knife because I ran out of clean spoons (because SOMEone forgot to turn on the dishwasher last night). Who was going to stop me? That's right. Nobody. Nice try bin Laden.
I ended up cutting the corner of my mouth on the knife, and it wasn't one of my brightest decisions. But I may have just invented a DIY smile enhancement. And I will sue you if you steal my idea. #America
I digress. So, A's fans; if attending a baseball game on LGBT Pride Night makes you at all uncomfortable, it is probably a good idea to sell your tickets. And I have the perfect buyer. ME!
If you'd like to sell your tickets to June 17th's LGBT Pride Night game, I will buy them from you at face value. As many as I can. No judgments. No questions asked.
From there, I will donate any tickets I purchase to the Bay Area Youth Center's Our Space community for LGBTQ youth.
That way you don't have to feel uncomfortable, and the seats don't go to waste. It's win-win.
Please tweet at me (@EireannDolan) if you'd like to sell me your tickets. I'll purchase as many unwanted tickets as I can out of my own pocket. I also encourage other A's fans to do the same. Let's fill the stands that night!
Love,
Eireann and my hella gay moms
Photo by djanimal/Flickr
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