Boston Herald sports columnist Steve Buckley came out of the closet today in a column for the newspaper.
But I’ve put this off long enough. I haven’t been fair to my family, my friends or my co-workers. And I certainly haven’t been fair to myself: For too many years I’ve been on the sidelines of Boston’s gay community but not in the game — figuratively and literally, as I feel I would have had a pretty good career in the (gay) Beantown Softball League.
Over the past couple of months I have discussed the coming-out process with my family and a few friends, and have had sit-downs with Herald editor-in-chief Joe Sciacca and sports editor Hank Hryniewicz, as well as with WEEI’s Glenn Ordway. They’ve been great, as have my friends and family.
But during this same period, I have read sobering stories about people who came undone, killing themselves after being outed. These tragic events helped guide me to the belief that if more people are able to be honest about who they are, ultimately fewer people will feel such devastating pressure.
Welcome to the club, Steve! And thank you for having the courage to do what the “heroes” you report on every day don’t have the guts to do! Oh, and the softball league? They’re pretty good…
What’s interesting to me is that the Herald is supposed to be this bastion of conservatism where people want to burn gays at the stake, while the Boston Globe is supposed to be the all-welcoming paper of record for Beantown. It’s great to see the Herald embrace this man regardless of his sexual orientation.
Hat tip to waflanagan.
on Jan 7th, 2011 at 12:07 AM
Would that all of us who haven’t come out in our professional lives do what Steve Buckley has done! Bravo.
on Jan 7th, 2011 at 12:15 AM
Good for him! It was a beautiful tribute to his mother and to himself!
on Jan 7th, 2011 at 3:19 AM
What’s interesting to me is that the Herald is supposed to be this bastion of conservatism where people want to burn gays at the stake
Yeah, why on earth would people ever get that idea? Oh, right, they employ the creepy homophobe Howie Carr as a star columnist.
on Jan 7th, 2011 at 2:25 PM
Just read in the Advocate that Buckley received supportive e-mails, and the outreach from includes words from the leadership of the Patriots and the Red Sox. It’s great to see two major sports organizations in Beantown supporting him.
on Jan 8th, 2011 at 6:32 PM
Also nice to see some athletes supporting Buckley–the follow up article in the Herald says that Kevin Youkilis and Dustin Pedroia texted their support to Buckley.
on Jan 15th, 2011 at 10:04 PM
Kudos to him and his employer. If only people had come out back in my formative years I might have had role models and would have embraced myself and avoided years of angst and fear.
on Jan 16th, 2011 at 11:01 PM
Don’t conservative newspapers and media generally show an enhanced inerest in sport?
Congratulations to Mr. Buckley.
I hope he can maintain those civil relationships with his co-workers.