After a rough start to Pride Month for LGBTQ baseball fans, Chicago Cubs pitcher Marcus Stroman celebrated the beginning of June with a tweet that stated his unequivocal support to the LGBTQ+ community.
“Happy Pride Month! We should always be accepting of those who take pride in who they are. Love is love no matter what,” he wrote.
Stroman also shared a photo of himself wearing a “Love is Love” t-shirt on the field.
In a subsequent tweet, Stroman announced donations to three LGBTQ+ charities located in cities where he’s played (New York, Chicago, Toronto).
“My career has afforded me the ability to support causes that are near and dear to me and those around me,” Stroman wrote in a statement. “It is my hope that my contribution will further the ongoing efforts of the LQTBQIA+ community in raising awareness, combating discrimination, and helping to celebrate diversity and inclusion.”
Brave Space Alliance is a Black and Trans-led LGBTQ community center located on Chicago’s south side. Stroman’s New York-based charity, Hetrick-Martin Institute, provides a safe space for LGBTQ youth between ages 13 and 24. And north of the border, The 519 is a counseling and community headquarters in Toronto, where Stroman began his big league career.
Stroman’s powerful tweets follow news of future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw (later joined by MLB players Trevor Williams and Blake Treinen) objecting to the Dodgers honoring the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, an LGBTQ activist group known for members who dress in drag resembling the black-and-white habits of Catholic sisters.
According to a press release in response to the Dodgers controversy from the San Francisco branch of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, the organization was founded “in response to the AIDS crisis, when gay men, who their faiths and families had abandoned because of their orientation, were sick and dying.” Some members of the group were former Catholics who were angry at the church for its condemnation of homosexuality.
Earlier this week, Toronto Blue Jays relief pitcher Anthony Bass also shared an anti-LGBTQ+ video on his Instagram story, sparking backlash from fans who loudly booed him at a home game.
On Monday morning, Bass shared a video on his Instagram story from @dudewithgoodnews, who encouraged Christians to boycott Target over an LGBTQ+ campaign he described as “evil” and “demonic,” and being shoved “into children’s faces.”
Later Tuesday afternoon, Bass told reporters that he was sorry for sharing the homophobic post.