When California baseball team Oakland A's announced that June 17th would be LGBTQ Pride Night at their stadium, perhaps they did not expect a negative reaction given the relative acceptance of LGBTQ folk in the Bay Area.
But in fact, the team received many homophobic responses:, including:
- "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?"
- "Parents please note this, not a game you want to take your kids to."
- "Whaaaaaat? Thanks for the warning, I will be sure not to be there on that night!"
Some fans threatened to sell their tickets. But one woman had a different response.
But Eireann Michael Dolan, girlfriend of Oakland Athletics pitcher Sean Doolittle, posted a different response. "I'm happy to purchase any tickets to this game you all are selling for whatever reason." On her related blog post, Eireann reveals she grew up with two moms who are both "die hard A's fans." Eireann has already raised over $30,000 dollars in support of this cause (donate here) with the help of this powerful open letter:
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
What an amazing woman!
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