It appears that the San Francisco Giants aren't afraid to use their voices to support the homosexual community in their own city and around the world.
That's because the defending World Series champions announced plans on Monday to film one of the popular "It Gets Better" ads. According to the movement's website, the�public service announcements are designed to "provide hope for lesbian, gay, bi, trans and other bullied teens by letting them know that 'It Gets Better.'"
Grant Hill and Jared Dudley of the Phoenix Suns recently taped a PSA speaking out against anti-gay remarks ? just around the same time that Suns team president Rick Weltz revealed to the New York Times that he is gay ? but the Giants are believed to be the first professional sports team to come together for such a spot.
The team reportedly made the decision after one of their fans started an online petition on Change.org that garnered over 6,000 e-signatures.�But the genesis of the idea came long before that organized effort, the team says.
In an interview Monday, [Sean] Chapin, a 35-year-old accountant who lives in San Francisco and works in Oakland, described the team's decision, announced Monday, as a "breaking bubble" that will have profound reverberations.
Giants spokeswoman Staci Slaughter said that the team had been thinking of joining the campaign before Chapin started his petition drive, but that his efforts speeded things up. She said the exact content of the video and which, if any, players or members of the coaching staff will participate have not been determined.
As Chapin correctly noted in his petition video (embedded below), the Giants are in a unique position to take such a stand. They're a diverse and tolerant team that plays in perhaps the most diverse and tolerant city and, oh yeah, the Commissioner's Trophy can be turned into a pretty effective megaphone when wielded properly.
Perhaps most importantly, the Giants have recently shown themselves to be selfless when it comes to using their success to help others in need. Whether it has been Brian Wilson and Cody Ross helping out YouTube star Keenan Cahill or Tim Lincecum donating his own money to injured Giants fan Bryan Stow, they've only been too glad to help.
Now they're willing to break rank in the sports world and help spread the word to�young members of the LGBT community that it indeed "gets better." In a culture that recently saw Atlanta Braves pitching coach Roger McDowell suspended two weeks for aiming gay slurs toward a group of fans at San Francsico's AT&T Park, that's a pretty admirable decision.
Note: We're going to leave comments open on this one for now. Please help us police the section by voting "down" any comments that cross the line of tolerance and respect.
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