Skip navigation. donate newsletter store ... the itt list Features > August 15, 2003 Is Baseball Ready for a Gay Jackie Robinson? By Peter Dreier After retiring, Billy Bean came out in 1999. Take Me Out
Lawrence v. Texas is one indication that Americans are increasingly accepting of homosexuals. Out-of-the-closet gays and lesbians have been elected to Congress and are prominent in the entertainment industry, business, journalism, and the clergy. Many big cities and suburbs have openly gay schoolteachers. TV sit-coms have openly gay characters and the New York Times now includes same-sex wedding announcements.
The Phil Donahue Show Real Sports and in ESPN Magazine
In his autobiography, Out at Home
Frustrated, Burke retired and kept his homosexuality secret until he cooperated for a 1982 article in Inside Sports magazine. Burke continued to play competitive sports. He won medals in the 100- and 200-meter sprints in the 1982 Gay Games and played basketball in the 1986 Gay Games. Later, Burke struggled with drug abuse, homelessness, and AIDS, from which he eventually died in 1995.
While Bean played for the Tigers, Dodgers, and Padres from 1987 to 1995, he pretended to date women, furtively went to gay bars, and hid his gay lover from teammates and fans. In his recently published memoir | |
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