the pride
ISSUE NUMBER 80, VOLUME 51 | JULY 1 – JULY 31, 2022 07.01.2022 – 07.31.2022
WWW.THEPRIDELA.COM
LOS ANGELES
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THE LOS ANGELES LGBT NEWSPAPER
44 Years Later, MLB’s First Openly Gay Player Glenn Burke Now Celebrated by Dodgers Glenn Burke celebrated at Dodgers Pride night By SuSan Payne The Los Angeles Dodgers’ ninth annual LGBTQ+ Pride Night celebrated their former outfielder Glenn Burke, the first openly gay major league player, 44 years after his short Major League Baseball tenure. Lutha Burke Davis, Burke’s oldest surviving sister and the family matriarch, told the New York Times how her brother would have reacted. “Glenn probably would have said, ‘Dang, about time!’” Davis said. “He’d be grinning from ear to ear. He would be thrilled that he was thought about that much, really.” More than 40 members of Burke’s family attended the pregame ceremony to recognize Burke, who played four seasons total from 1976-79, before being driven out of town, according to the New York Times. Although his time in Los Angeles was brief, Burke’s imprint is lasting. During the ceremony, his former teammates described him as a player who could beat you on the baseball field and school you on the basketball court. “People talk about the high-five,” said Dusty Baker, Burke’s partner in what
Glenn Burke was MLB’s first openly gay player. His brother Sydney is seen here throwing out the ceremonial first pitch to Mookie Betts on June 3.
is credited to be the celebratory slap’s
invention on Oct. 2, 1977. “Glenn started that. All I did was reciprocate to it.”
But Burke was far ahead of his times
was traded by the Dodgers, shunned by the Oakland Athletics and, eventually,
according to the New York Times: He
Glenn Burke, see page 8
before the times would recognize him,
A Staple Tamales Vendor’s Truck Was Stolen Friends of Rosy Milagro Rosales Gil are asking for LGBTQ+ support to bring back her only source of income By SuSan Payne For nearly 16 years, a 52-year-old single mother of two has been serving the Los Angeles LGBTQ+ community’s late night and afterhours club and bar crowd with hotdogs and tamales. Rosy Milagro Rosales Gil started making
and selling her food 15 years ago outside of Faultline. She set up a second stand outside of Bullet Bar, according to the Los Angeles Blade. A few weeks ago, Gil’s food truck, according to her friends Matias Gomez Constenla and Charlie Matula, was “tragically” stolen. “In that van was everything she used to cook her delicious food. This has been a huge blow to her financially and emotionally since it’s her main source of income. She has been a staple in feeding the queer LA nightlife and we must help her,” Constenla and Matula said. Gil is currently cooking with borrowed equipment and relying on others for transportation. Gil’s friends Contenla
Photo: Twitter (@Dodgers)
and Matula set up a GoFundMe to garner support from the LGBTQ+ community whom she has served for years. “You may recognize her from working at The Bullet, Faultine, Ostbahnhof, and more recently you can find her every Friday and Saturday night at the Eagle LA,” Constenla and Matula said in the GoFundMe. “That is why we are starting this GoFundMe, so she doesn’t have to take on all the burden financially on replacing everything that was stolen from her.” As of June 29, the GoFundMe has raised $4,506 of the $20,000 goal To view the GoFundMe visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-rosyrecover-from-theft