Aloysius Butler & Clark

Indiana could learn something from California, or at least from a member of the Oakland Athletics.

Diversity has been on the minds of everyone in the country this week. Obviously, we have all heard about the religious-freedom law that Indiana just “secretly” not-so-secretly passed. I am positive that if you did not have an opinion one way or the other about LGBTQ rights, you do now. It saddens me that this is where this country is at, and these are the stories in the headlines. I also recognize that even bad publicity is good publicity or at least is creating awareness. For example, when a giant industry like NASCAR steps up in support of non-discrimination of the LGBTQ community, that’s saying something. I am not a NASCAR watcher, but I certainly have far more respect for the industry after this week, along with all the other multibillion-dollar industries that made it their duty to denounce Indiana’s new law.

With all of the controversy in Indiana, there is a far more heartwarming story I don’t want to be missed. The Oakland A’s announced they are hosting their very first LGBT Pride Night. What they did not expect was the negative social media backlash and fans saying they wanted to sell their tickets so they did not have to attend. No, that’s not the heartwarming part of the story, that would be Oakland A’s pitcher, Sean Doolittle, and his girlfriend Eireann Dolan, who immediately made it their mission to contact all of these fans and offer to purchase their tickets. They plan on donating the tickets to the Bay Area’s local Our Space LGBTQI Community Center.  They have also set up a GoFundMe page to help them purchase more of the unwanted tickets and they will also donate any additional raised funds to LGBTQ groups in the area so they can attend the game. On the first day they hit their $6,000 goal, and by yesterday it was up to $16,000. After checking today, it is now at $21,416 …  and that’s heartwarming.