The last month or so has seen quite a bit of action on the LGBT in sports front:
And a couple of weeks ago, as reported right here on The Wide World of Sports, the San Francisco Giants announced that they're going to make an "It Gets Better" video.
Today, they released the video.
The video features Barry Zito, Sergio Romo, Matt Cain, Hensley Meulens and Andres Torres.
"Hi. I'm Barry Zito of the World Champion San Francisco Giants. We all know how difficult life can be as a teenager."
"We've all been there and had to deal with the pressure to fit in and be accepted by our peers."
"It's particularly challenging for LGBT teens who face adversity and intolerance in their daily lives."
"We speak for the entire Giants organization when we say there's no place in society for hatred and bullying against anyone."
"There's no place for children and teenagers to feel isolated and like they have to end their own lives."
"To all the kids out there who are struggling..."
"...and we know it may seem hopeless right now..."
"...but please know that you have an amazing future in front of you..."
"...and an entire community in your corner."
"We promise you: It gets better."
"It gets better."
("it gets better" in Spanish)
("it gets better" in Japanese)
"We promise you, it does get better. Please visit itgetsbetter.org for more information."
This wouldn't have happened if Sean Chapin—a lifelong Giants fan in the SF Bay area—hadn't posted a petition to change.org asking the Giants to make this video. And it certainly wouldn't have happened if the Giants organization wasn't 100% behind the effort.
And it looks like it's starting a trend. As 'Duk of Yahoo Sports's Big League Stew blog (which is, for my money, one of the better baseball blogs out there) reports, the Giants' video inspired a 12-year-old Red Sox fan, Sean Maden, to start his own petition asking the Red Sox to make a similar video.
Maybe this will spread to the point where LGBT fans of all 30 teams in baseball—and, dare we hope, other teams in other sports as well—will see a video of their team's stars telling them: "It gets better."
And given that sports are seen as the very definition of masculinity by many in our culture—a masculinity that tells gay men in particular that they're somehow not "real men" if they aren't into women—maybe seeing the "manly men" of professional sports standing up against anti-LGBT bigotry will change a few people's hearts.
Professional sports was once ahead of the curve when it came to recognizing that talent, athleticism, and character—not any other factors—are what make champions; perhaps, even as many other parts of society have moved ahead on LGBT equality, sports can again play a crucial role, this time in bringing more and more of the stragglers along for the ride.
Let's hope this spreads.
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