(This story originally appeared in the June 2019 edition of Yankees Magazine.)
There are times that working for a team publication can be a bit of a drag, but then there are projects like this one, which I still can’t believe happened. The Yankees made a big push this year to honor the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, and they put together what was a remarkable initiative, encompassing education, advocacy and exposure.
In creating the Yankees-Stonewall Scholars program, the legendary sports franchise and the historic, iconic bar, became unlikely partners, a phenomenon I explore in this story. It’s hard to think back to just how unlikely it would have seemed in 1969 to see the Yankees helping the LGBTQ community. Not that there was specific hostility, neither intentional nor explicitly directed. Just that, as Martin Boyce explains in the story, Yankee Stadium was the place where “Our dads would take us, because they were training us to be straight.”
I’m proud of the research that went into this story, the months that I spent learning all about Stonewall, talking to people who were there, meeting with advocates in the community and even talking to Yankees players and staff about their own views of the initiative. To meet the first five winners, this extraordinary collection of students who are going to change the world, was an experience that I’ll keep close forever.
But mostly, I’m proud that the Yankees did this. I know that there are always cynics who will say that they did it to sell tickets or to nod in the direction of progress, but this was real, it was meaningful and it was organic. I saw it, nearly every step of the way. This was the highest levels of the organization — ownership and executives — working to create something that will last. Brian Cashman and his top assistant Jean Afterman participated in all of the interviews to select the winners. That’s remarkable.
And I’m proud that fans at the ballpark in June who wanted to keep score saw this story in their gameday program. I hope that you’ll read it.
https://www.mlb.com/news/yankees-stonewall-scholars-lgbtq-inclusivity