Do you really care?

Today, Carson Kressley of the Queer Eye for the Straight Guy Team will throw out the first pitch at Fenway Park. Okay, so I'm a little envious, because I'll never be throwing out the first pitch for a game anywhere, but that's just an aside.

For at least part of this week on sports radio (self-proclaimed 'Nitwit Radio'), WEEI reveled in bashing the inappropriateness of Cressley's appearance, with Gerry Callahan labeling him a 'fruitcake'. Callahan has something of a track record with his previous METCO diatribe, and the show spent some of the next day trying to dance around the issue (one suspension being enough pain in the proverbial purse).

I didn't hear Larry Johnson's diatribe yesterday, but on the Wallach and Dickerson show, they were almost apologetic for Johnson's sermonizing about the gay and lesbian community.

Although I don't think anyone really has a percentage of what percentage of people are gay, we know it's substantial and we also know that physiological underpinnings exist. Researchers from the prestigious Karolinska Institute found hypothalamic (part of the brain) activation on PET scans in gay men in response to exposure to male sweat chemicals. This mimicked the hypothalamic response found upon exposure of these chemicals in women. Straight men exposed to these chemicals had activation of the part of the brain modulating olfaction (smell). Their conclusion was that pheromones are likely important, although they stopped short of determining causality.

Previous studies have also suggested a possible genetic relationship to homosexuality as identical twins are statistically more likely to share sexual preference than fraternal twins.

All of which brings us back to the Red Sox and major league baseball. I have no idea how many gay players have played on the Red Sox or in major league baseball. As a baseball fan, I'd be happy to see consistent effort and play; it doesn't matter to me whether player A is straight or gay, as long as he can play.

As a matter of preference, I'd prefer the clubhouse be filled with 'good guys' who create an environment where diversity is not only accepted but welcomed. As an organization, I'm sure the Red Sox want people of every national origin, creed, race, color, and sexual orientation to come to Fenway, and ideally buy every form of Red Sox paraphernalia imaginable to Ben Wrightman.

There are 'good people' who feel compelled to hate women, black Americans, other minorities, poor people, rich people, gays and lesbians, and kids who climb on rocks. The same people clamor about the importance of reciting the Pledge of Allegiance with 'liberty and justice for all'. In my world, praying at the cross in the morning and burning it on a lawn at night smacks of more than a little bit of hypocrisy. Accepting intolerance only breeds more intolerance. That's just my take on it.

Maybe I'm oversensitive because my cousin, a gay man, was killed in a hate crime, before 'hate crimes' actually existed. So be it.

I'm realistic enough to know and to accept that I won't change anyone's opinion, ever, but I care and I hope you all do, too.