So, you probably heard about Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy's dated remarks on gay people. In response to a question about Major League Baseball's official Ambassador of Inclusion, Billy Bean, who spent time in Mets camp at the bequest of general manager Sandy Alderson, Murphy pulled out all the classic tropes. Whenever I hear someone bust out the "it's a lifestyle" routine I generally do a Liz Lemon eyeroll and make little comments about choices those people made. Fortunately, former Padres outfielder Billy Bean is a bigger person than me.
Earlier today Bean wrote about his experience with the Mets and responded to Murphy's comments. The whole thing is worth reading, but a few generous quotes really stood out to me. When addressing Murphy's remarks, Bean led off by expressing his "tremendous admiration and respect for Daniel Murphy as a family man" for missing Opening Day last year for his son's birth despite media pushback.
Bean continued to take the high road, noting that he appreciated that "Daniel spoke his truth", adding that he respects Murphy and that Murphy was respectful toward him. His reasoning for being understanding is unimpeachable:
The silver lining in his comments are that he would be open to investing in a relationship with a teammate, even if he "disagrees" with the lifestyle. It may not be perfect, but I do see him making an effort to reconcile his religious beliefs with his interpretation of the word lifestyle. It took me 32 years to fully accept my sexual orientation, so it would be hypocritical of me to not be patient with others.
That stopped me right in my tracks. It took me exactly 32 years to get real about it too. Maybe I should be more tolerant of the intolerant and understand that it's a process.