Gay Bashing in the Locker Room Forced One Former Minor League Baseball Player to Quit – blogged by @LoveRubyWoo

It’s no secret that homosexuality is still a very taboo subject in some parts of American culture, especially in the world of men’s sports. One former baseball player has decided to come forward and talk about his experience playing with a minor league baseball team while being a closeted gay man, and how it eventually drove him to quit the game that he loved.

24-year-old Tyler Dunnington was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in 2014, but after just one season of playing with the Gulf Coast League Cardinals, a minor league team affiliated with the Cardinals, he decided to quit the sport that he had played all his life. 

In an open letter to Outsports, Dunnington talked about the years of gay-bashing that he had to endure in college and then in the minor leagues not just from fellow players, but from coaches as well. 

“I was one of the unfortunate closeted gay athletes who experienced years of homophobia in the sport I loved. I was able to take most of it with a grain of salt but towards the end of my career I could tell it was affecting my relationships with people, my performance, and my overall happiness.

I experienced both coaches and players make remarks on killing gay people during my time in baseball, and each comment felt like a knife to my heart. I was miserable in a sport that used to give me life, and ultimately I decided I needed to hang up my cleats for my own sanity.”

Sadly, this young man felt he had to give up his dream of playing baseball to get away from all the intolerance and hate in the locker room. However, upon reflection, he says that maybe it wasn’t the best decision.

“After a little over a year of being gone from the game I’ve come to realize I thought I was choosing happiness over being miserable,” he wrote. “That is not necessarily the case. My passion still lies in baseball, and removing myself from the game didn’t change that. Most of the greatest memories I have are with this sport. After gaining acceptance from my friends and family I realized I didn’t have to quit baseball to find happiness.”

Dunnington hopes that in the future, he can continue to pursue his passion for baseball with a possible front office job and he is currently working hard towards that goal.