Vote Now for LGBTQ Nation’s 2022 Sports Hero
Maybelle Blair, the 95-year-old baseball player who was an inspiration for A League of Their Own who came out this year; Solomon Bates, the second minor league baseball player to come out and was signed by the Sioux City Explorers; Lia Thomas, who came out and stood up to her Republican lawmaker dad; Megan Rapinoe, who educates her followers about wildlife and whose emu stole the show; his followers on TikTok and Instagram about life as a trans dad and promoted protests against anti-trans laws; and Justine Lindsay, who uses her large platform on to show what it’s like to be Black, queer, and Muslim.The nominees for LGBTQ Nation’s Sports Hero of the Year 2022 confirm that what counts, win or lose, is how you play the game.
Vote now for LGBTQ Nation’s 2022 Sports Hero. Maybelle BlairIn June, Maybelle Blair, who inspired the character played by Madonna in Penny Marshall’s 1992 comedy A League of Their Own, came out as gay.The occasion was the premiere of a new Amazon series based on the film.
Blair turned 95 in January.“I hid for 75, 85 years, and this is actually basically the first time I’ve ever come out,” she said.The former All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player batted and threw right handed.
She pitched professionally for the Peoria Redwings in 1948, followed by softball stints with the Chicago Cardinals and the Jax Girls in New Orleans.“All the Way Mae” went on to help found the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Players Association in 1982, serving on the Board of Directors, and as Fundraising chair.
