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During Black History Month, LGBTQ SAVES is highlighting black LGBTQ+ folk. Although baseball season is still a few months away, we wanted to give a shoutout to Glenn Burke- the first openly gay player in Major League Baseball.
Described as the next "Willie Mays", Burke was recruited to the LA Dodgers, officially joining the "big, blue wrecking crew" for the 1977 season. Although he was a rookie, many on the team thought of him as the soul of the team- always cracking jokes and dancing in the dugout.
After teammate Dusty Baker scored his 30th homerun of the '77 season, Burke congratulated him with the first ever recorded high five.
While not publicly out, Burke was out to his teammates. After games, he would hit up gay bars. This caused some tension from management. Burke was traded to the Oakland Athletics for a more experienced player, but there were rumors that the trade had more to do with homophobia.
His new teammates were not open to having a gay man on the team, avoiding him in the showers. His playtime was also cut. After a knee injury, Burke was put in the minor leagues until he decided to retire from the sport. He would come out publicly in an article published in 1982.
After his stint as a ball player, Burke would continue to be active in sports. He would compete in the first Gay Games and was active in the San Francisco Gay Softball League. In 2013, he was inducted into the National Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame.
He would die in the late 1990's due to AIDs complications, but not before publishing a memoir about being an openly gay baseball player.
You can learn more about Glenn Burke by watching "OUT: The Glenn Burke Story" released in 2010 or by picking up a copy of his memoir "Out at Home: The True Story of Glenn Burke, Baseball's First Openly Gay Player" available on Amazon.
