From: OutSports
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| Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant are two keys for the Cubs. |
The Chicago Cubs play the Cleveland Indians in the World Series starting Tuesday night and the Cubs are your team if you’re looking for an LGBT rooting angle.
Not only is Wrigley Field adjacent to Boystown, the gay center of Chicago, but the Cubs have a float in the annual gay pride parade. The team’s co-owner, Laura Ricketts, is an out and proud married lesbian who is very visible in the LGBT community.
The Cubs have also been holding a gay day event each year at Wrigley Field since 2001, now called Out at Wrigley, making it the longest-running LGBT-themed day among the 30 Major League Baseball teams.
Bill Gubrud, the gay Chicagoan who started Out at Wrigley and a lifelong Cubs fans, posted this video on Facebook Sunday in honor of his dad, who died in 2012 and never saw his team win a World Series.
In contrast, the Indians have held one LGBT-themed promotion at their stadium. In 2014, the team scheduled a night in honor of the Gay Games that were taking place in the city at the time. Unfortunately, rain put a damper on turnout and the game was eventually postponed after a few innings.
The lack of a yearly gay day does not mean the Indians organization is anti-LGBT. For example, in 2013, the Indians posted a message in support of Spirit Day: "Join MLB as we stand up against bullying and stick up for LGBT youth by going purple for #SpiritDay 10/17. Go purple now: http://glaad.org/spiritday."
Each of these team's fan bases are starving for a World Series title. The Cubs last won in 1908, the Indians in 1948. Since the Cubs have a gay co-owner and have been proactive in supporting the LGBT community in Chicago, I'll root for the Cubs.
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