though participation wasn’t mandatory. These guys were the ones who were going to show kids being gay didn’t mean they couldn’t follow their dreams.
“Yeah, and you’ve never broken a promise. I know,” Clint said as he flagged down the bartender, who immediately rushed over to serve us, much to the annoyance of everyone waiting in line. “But seriously, thanks for coming out. I know Bryce and Eric are ecstatic about how successful the night has been.”
“What they’re doing is important,” I responded, not knowing what else to say. I was lucky my family always accepted me without question, but I wasn’t foolish enough to think every teen who got caught jerking off with their best friend received the same reaction. “Glad to help out.”
The lights flickered, signaling everyone to find their seats. Clint, thankfully, made sure I had a place at their table. The men around me were my equals on the field, but I looked up to them because of their character away from the ballpark.
Mason Atley had given up his baseball career in favor of having a family. He’d vehemently deny it, but he was the reason other players were able to crack open the closet door. The bold admission of his relationship with Sean Tucker made it possible for the rest of us to be both gay and a professional athlete.
Well, it was acceptable if you were in a city like Milwaukee, where management made didn’t allow any bullying or hate-speech in the clubhouse. My own experiences proved not every club enforced the same principles.
Sitting across the table from me, he and Sean looked as much in love today as they had years ago when they’d first been exposed. Jason Klein seemed lost to anyone other than his somewhat effeminate partner, who was apparently a minor celebrity in the food world.
And then, of course, there was Clint and his new husband, Kevin Green. I wasn’t sure what surprised me more: the fact that Clint, the man who swore he never wanted a relationship when we were doing our thing, was now married, or the fact the he married Kevin. They were great together and I was happy for them, but I never in a million years would’ve pegged Kevin as one of us. I still couldn’t believe they’d actually run off to Vegas and gotten married.
Being the only single guy at the table, I was the only one who’d be up for auction later in the night. I’d have been pissed about how hilarious everyone else found my discomfort, but my bitterness was eclipsed by the fact that, for the first time in years, I was around people who knew and accepted me.
I was a friend of Clint’s, and therefore I was one of them. At least from what I’d seen so far, the Mavericks were everything baseball was supposed to be. They were a brotherhood both on and off the field.
As the servers cleared out plates, I pulled out my phone and set a reminder to call my agent again. I didn’t care what he had to do to make it happen, if I was going to play ball again this year, I wanted it to be in Milwaukee.
The emcee for the evening, a local radio DJ who seemed to think he was the Midwest’s version of Howard Stern, grabbed the mic to get everyone’s attention. He dramatically shielded his eyes from the spotlight shining on the stage and let out a whistle.
“Looks to me like we have the best of Milwaukee in here with us tonight,” he praised. I rolled my eyes, wishing the guy would get on with it. “On behalf of Bryce and Eric, thank you for opening your wallets tonight to help keep the doors of Secured Hope open another year. It’s because of the generosity of people like you that they’ve been able to help over seventy-five displaced LGBT young adults in the first full year of operation…”
I sat a bit straighter, suddenly interested in what he had to say. I knew the center filled a need in the community, but I’d figured they mostly ran a facility where people were welcome to come and hang out with others who’d understand what they were going through.
It amazed me that, according to the emcee, Secured Hope wasn’t just a community center, but a halfway house of sorts, devoted to helping get LGBT adults off the streets and into a better life. I figured the emcee would bug the hell out of me