A Message to Clayton Kershaw

Many of my readers know that I love baseball, especially the Texas Rangers. In case you didn't know that, you do now. Spring Training is right around the corner and the MLB regular season is in our sights. However, in this story, I want to send a strong message to a player who needs a lesson in both humanity and compassion. The player I'm talking about is Clayton Kershaw. To all of you non-baseball fans who aren't familiar with who he is, he's a World Series champion and Cy Young Award winner. Back in 2023, he made disparaging and bigoted remarks regarding the Dodgers were having a promotion inviting The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to Dodger Stadium during Pride Month. Because of this, I can no longer look at Clayton Kershaw the same way again. It's time that I read this man for the filth, because I have a lot of things to say to him. I could call him every name in the book, but it would make the points that I'm about to share absolutely meaningless. I'm not going to apologize for standing up for what I believe in or being honest. If I see someone being disrespectful towards a certain group of people, I'm not afraid to call them out on it. If I'm wrong for speaking up, then so be it. I'm not afraid to expose people for who they are.

Clayton, I know we've never met and there's a slim chance that we may or may not cross each other's paths. However, I want to take a few moments of my time to discuss a few things with you that disturbed me. First and foremost, your comments about The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence back in a 2023 interview was not only disrespectful, but disparaging. You claimed at the time that they're mocking Christianity. First of all, people mock Christianity because it's the lowest hanging fruit and there are many people who don't take religion seriously. Is it right? No, but you need to learn how to have a tougher skin and get over yourself. It wasn't a personal attack towards you or your beliefs, so it seemed to me like you overreacted for absolutely no reason. It's not a good idea to search for problems about everything when they're aren't any or make connections that aren't there. This is a case of sticking your nose in a situation where it doesn't belong. If something doesn't apply to you, it's best to move on. Let people be and leave them alone. If they're not hurting you in any way, then why do you care? If you're so happy with your life, then why be in your feelings about a group of people doing something that has absolutely nothing to do with you?

Second, you claim to be a Christian. I don't begrudge you or anyone for being religious. You're free to believe in whatever higher power you want. However, the issue that I have with you is you're using your religious beliefs as a way to shame others who don't believe in the same things as you do and everyone who doesn't are bad people. You're also doing that so others don't have to question the things that you do and make yourself more superior than everyone else. I'm not a religious person by any means, but I'm pretty sure that the Bible said to not judge others and also to love everyone and emphasis on the word "everyone". However, you were doing a lot of judging towards people you probably have never met a day in your life, so pot meet kettle. If you treat a certain group of people (LGBTQ+ people) differently from how you treat your teammates, manager, etc., then you're not practicing what you preach and you come off as a hypocrite. It says a lot about you as an individual. It seems to me like you're not the nicest nor friendliest person towards LGBTQ+ people. Also, you aren't the innocent person you claim to be. You might say something to the effect of "I don't hate gay or transgender people" or "I'm not that person". However, I can read between the lines and through your BS, telling you that's not true and also, I don't believe you. What you said in that interview was you spewing hate. You are definitely that person and it shows.

Third, I'm going to share a little bit about myself and the reasons why I'm calling you out on your BS.

I'm a Texas native, just like you are. Also, I'm a few months older than you, but born in different years and around the same age. I grew up in Arlington and I'm a die-hard Rangers fan. Have been since I was 13 and went to my first game, which was an exciting experience. Not only that, but I happen to be gay. Yes, a gay man who loves baseball. I knew that I liked boys at a young age and had to hide my sexuality for almost 20 years, because my now estranged parents were religious. They wouldn't let me be myself. Plus, they were physically and verbally abusive towards me. In February 2012, I finally came out as a gay man. I've lost a lot of friends and relatives because of this since then, but I only focus on the people who love and accept me for who I am. As far as my estranged parents, they weren't very accepting, as I finally came out to them in an open letter back in 2020. In their minds, they would rather have a dead gay son than a living one. The only relative that truly accepts me is an aunt, whom I haven't seen or spoken to since I was a kid. I'm lucky to have someone who's supportive of me being my true self. I used to attend church as a kid, but I stopped going to church altogether two years after coming out because of the hate being regurgitated against LGBTQ + people. Being an openly gay man is part of who I am and have no regrets. The only regret I had was not coming out a lot sooner. I do my best to treat people with the utmost respect. So, let me ask you this question, Clayton: Do you think I'm a disgusting or horrible person just because I'm LGBTQ +? Maybe you can answer that.

Fourth, I'll share a couple of statistics about LGBTQ+ hate crimes, because you seem to lack both an empathy chip and compassion.

According to an article from the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), there were 2,402 recorded incidents to a victim's sexual orientation in 2024. This was up from over 1,900 in 2023. Also, more than 1 in 5 of any hate crime was motivated by anti-LGBTQ+ bias. The hatred against people like me has been happening for decades and misinformation about us continues to grow. People like me deserve to live productive and normal lives. While we're at it, people like me are not lifestyles, so I'm nipping that in the bud right now. We're human beings who exist and deserve to be protected and treated with dignity and respect. We're not going anywhere and have no plans of disappearing anytime soon. We also don't need to be "fixed" or "cured". If you're easily bothered that you can't stand seeing the sight of people like me, then that's a you problem. You have deep-seated issues that you need to work on. How someone identifies themselves is not up to you or how they live their lives is none of your business. I'll never respect an athlete or anyone who thinks that LGBTQ+ people should be treated less than who they are. We're not second-class citizens. We're human beings with valid feelings and thoughts. This hateful rhetoric, and let's call it for what it is, harms people like me and continues to perpetuate negative stereotypes about us that are damaging, dangerous, hurtful, and in most cases, deadly. There are those who are still afraid to come out of the closet and be themselves, because of people like you. You are insensitive and unsympathetic towards other people's plights, and that's one of the reasons why I no longer respect you. The late, great Dr. Maya Angelou once said, "When people show you who they are, believe them." I had to stop being friends with someone I've known since my sophomore year in high school after almost 20 years in 2021. He displayed the same level of disrespect towards me as you have back in 2023, because I came out as gay. You're not the kind of person that I'd want to be friends with, based on the horrible things you've said about people like me. You're supposed to be "The face of the Dodgers", but I can no longer see you as one of the greats who has ever played the game of baseball.

As I've said earlier, I don't have a problem with religious people in general. Not all religious people are hateful towards people like me, but it seems like you do. Another issue that I have with you is that people like you show a level of unfairness by denying the existence of LGBTQ+ people, dehumanizing them, and also their experiences. That doesn't seem holy and godly to me. Your personality is awful and disingenuous. It's more of a caricature. Regardless of who someone is or what they identify as, dignity and respect are important. While it's not your job or obligation to change them for who they are, empathy also exists. I'm not saying that you have to abandon your beliefs. I'm telling you to have a bit of compassion. You can share your faith to others without disrespecting other groups of people in a cruel way. You can't be a man of faith and a bully, because you're the latter. It gives me Biff Tannen/Back to the Future vibes. I'm not afraid to call you a bully, because the way you displayed yourself in that 2023 interview is how I would describe you. You're a heartless, close-minded bigot who lacks self-awareness of one's feelings. If you don't like assumptions made towards you, post something on social media or put out a statement that says otherwise. I was once a fan of yours and thought you were a good pitcher, even though I'm not a Dodgers fan. Now, based on what I know about you, it makes me look at you in a different way. Despite all of your accolades, you are a terrible and unsympathetic person. I no longer have any respect for you, because you think that LGBTQ + people are the ones that others should be afraid of and they should be eradicated. Plus, you believe that people like me are gross, which further perpetuates the harmful and misleading stereotype about us. Having a religious belief is not a hall pass for being rude and disrespectful towards people you have probably never met or interacted with. Unless you know the daily personal struggles of every LGBTQ + person, you have no room to talk or judge. I'm no better than you and you aren't better than me. You're not a Saint and neither am I. We're just two different individuals from two different backgrounds. If we were to meet each other, I would tell you all of the things that I've said in this story face to face. Angry would be a complete understatement to describe how I feel about you. I'm more disappointed in you than I am furious. I'm not concerned whether you accept me for me. I'm more concerned about the hateful anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric that you may be spreading to others in order to put yourself more in a victim role. In reality, you aren't being oppressed or persecuted for being religious. You're more of the oppressor. I believe that you use your nice guy persona and faith as a way to shame others, just because they don't believe in God. Like I stated earlier, I don't care if people believe in God or not. I've never once belittled someone for being religious, but have called them out for being hypocritical and treating LGBTQ+ unfairly. Besides, I don't need a book to tell me how good or bad of a person I am. It doesn't determine my morality. Besides, you wouldn't know what real love, compassion, or empathy is if it looked you in the eyes.

Clayton Edward Kershaw, I'm going to tell you these final things in the most respectful way possible. You live your life as you wish and let others do the same without judgment. Let people be and stop looking for problems in everything. Everything doesn't need to have a response. If you continually search for problems when they're aren't any, you'll become that grumpy man who displays a "Get off my lawn" type of attitude. You may not relate to my struggles as a gay man, which is fine. You may not relate to the struggles of LGBTQ+ people, which is also okay. If you want people to show sympathy towards you, then you need to reciprocate that. Live your life and stop worrying about other people and things that don't affect you. Being bothered about every little thing would lead you towards a very sad life. LGBTQ+ people aren't the problem. They don't need to change anything about themselves. Your perception of people like me is and you need to check your own personal biases. I believe that the most noble thing for you to do is apologize to the LGBTQ+ community and also to The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, but I'm not hopeful it would happen anytime soon, since you want to become a professional victim so badly and it's everyone else's fault for not being believers. I'm calling you out in this story, because I couldn't let this go and had to say something in order for me to put you in your place. I'm not sure if you're a nice person or not in real life. However, I hope you have learned something from this and also, I hope you take away something from this. Everyone, regardless of race, gender identity, or sexual orientation, deserves to be treated with the utmost respect. Maybe you need to be a bit more open-minded and appreciate and accept people as they are. Also, show an ounce of humility and compassion for once, because those don't cost a thing. You can show compassion towards people who are different from you without you compromising your own personal beliefs. The Dodgers can hold any event they so choose. Let LGBTQ+ people have their own event at Dodger Stadium and leave them alone. There are Christians who support LGBTQ+ people, so Clayton, you need to take notes from those people. I'll say this one last time: empathy exists. Simple as that and stop taking everything so personally.