Baseball

Co-Owner of the Chicago Cubs

b. December 15, 1967

“I think the Cubs have come quite a long way … I'd like to see it expand for the LGBT community.”

Laura Ricketts is a lawyer, a philanthropist, a businesswoman and the first openly LGBT co-owner of an American major-league sports franchise. She is also an activist who supports LGBT and Democratic causes.

Ricketts and her three brothers grew up in Omaha, Nebraska. She is the daughter of John Joseph Ricketts, the multibillionaire founder and former CEO of TD Ameritrade. Ricketts’s brother Pete is the governor of Nebraska. Her brother Tom is chairman of the Chicago Cubs.

Raised in a conservative Catholic family, Ricketts worried about coming out. In the early 1990s she told her family, and to her relief, they were immediately supportive.

Ricketts earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Chicago in 1994 and her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Michigan Law School in 1998. She became a corporate attorney practicing with Schiff, Hardin & Waite, a Chicago law firm.

Ricketts left the practice to cofound Ecotravel, LLC—a company dedicated to promoting ecotourism worldwide—that operated Ecotravel.com, an online magazine. The Wall Street Journal named Ecotravel.com one of the top websites of its kind in 2002.

Ricketts has generously supported organizations such as Lambda Legal, GayCo Productions, Opportunity Education and the Democratic Party. She serves on the boards of Lambda Legal and Housing Opportunities for Women (HOW), Inc., an organization supporting homeless women and children in Chicago.

Although her parents and siblings are Republicans, Ricketts champions Democratic politics. She co-chaired the Democratic National Committee’s LGBT Leadership Council and became the cofounder and chairwoman of LPAC, the first lesbian political action committee. She was a prominent fundraiser for President Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign and for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. At the 2016 Democratic National Convention, Ricketts served as an Illinois superdelegate.

In October 2009, with her brother as board chairman, the Ricketts family paid $845 million for 95% ownership of the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field. Ricketts and her brothers are board members of the Cubs.

In 2013 the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame inducted Ricketts. In June 2015 she married Brooke Skinner, an executive at Cars.com. They live in Chicago with their daughter.

Athlete

b. November 16, 1955

d. May 30, 1995

"They can't ever say now that a gay man can't play in the majors, because I'm a gay man and I made it."

Glenn Burke was the first Major League Baseball player to come out to his teammates and managers during his career.

Born in California, Burke attended Berkeley High School, where he excelled in multiple sports. He briefly attended University of Nevada on a basketball scholarship before the Los Angeles Dodgers drafted him. Burke played minor league baseball for four years until his major league debut in 1976.

Burke is known as the originator of the “high five.” After Dusty Baker hit his 30th home run of the season, Burke greeted his teammate at home plate with an open palm. “His hand was up in the air, and he was arching way back so I reached up and hit his hand,” Baker said. “It seemed like the thing to do.”

While with the Dodgers, Burke began to openly express his sexual orientation. The Dodgers manager offered the outfielder a bonus to marry a woman, which Burke declined. “Glenn was comfortable with who he was,” said a childhood friend. “Baseball was not comfortable with who he was.”

In 1977, the Dodgers traded Burke to the Oakland Athletics. Many of his teammates believed that Burke was traded because of his sexual orientation. In 1980, while playing for the A’s, he faced similar discrimination and retired. In 1982, Burke publicly came out in an Inside Sports article, titled “The Double Life of a Dodger.”

After leaving baseball, Burke worked odd jobs. He became homeless and began using drugs. In 1988, he served a 16-month jail sentence for grand theft and drug possession.

In 1995, Burke died from AIDS-related complications. A documentary about his life, “Out. The Glenn Burke Story” (2010), aired on sports channels.

Major League Baseball Player

b. May 11, 1964

“We’re not here to change the way people think. We’re here to give them the opportunity to make the best decision.” 

William “Billy” Bean is the second Major League Baseball player to come out.

Born in Santa Ana, California, the eldest of six kids, Bean showed talent for baseball in high school. His team won the state championship. He received an athletic scholarship from Loyola Marymount University where, in his junior year, he was recruited by the New York Yankees. Though he was offered a lucrative signing bonus, he chose to finish college and was twice named an All-American outfielder.

When Bean was 24, he married a woman he met in college. They porced three years later.

In 1986 Bean made his Major League debut with the Detroit Tigers. During his career, he also played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, the San Diego Padres and the Kintestsu Buffaloes of the Nippon Professional Baseball League in Japan.

While playing with the Padres, Bean came out to his family. He came out publicly in 1999, after retiring from the sport.

In 2014 Bean was appointed Major League Baseball’s first-ever Ambassador for Inclusion. In this role, he provides guidance and support for LGBT players. He has also developed educational training on homophobia and has presented at annual industry events. In an interview, Bean said he likely would not have quit baseball as early in his career if a support system for gay players had existed at the time.

Bean lives in Los Angeles. He discusses his personal and professional life in his best-selling memoir, “Going the Other Way: Lessons from a Life In and Out of Major League Baseball.”