Chapter 5: Gay Rights in the Locker Room

I have always been athletic. Whether it was winning the “Egg and Spoon Race” in kindergarten, playing little league baseball, or playing a pick-up basketball game at the local park—sports have always been a part of my life. In fact, playing sports has been a part of my entire family’s life since I was a child. There was one summer when all of my five siblings and I (six kids all together) were playing baseball and softball. I recall my mother driving from ballpark to ballpark, catching one to two innings of play, and then heading to the next park to see another kid. I will always appreciate the way in which my mother supported our love for sports. That summer, the local newspaper wrote up a story about our mother and the challenges of managing six kids playing summer baseball. The picture that accompanied the story was of us six kids in my mother’s station wagon ready to be dropped off at our games. I remember the joy of playing baseball that summer and every other summer afterwards. It wasn’t until I reached high school that the joy disappeared.