Former MLB player William Daro “Billy”
Bean has posed for the NOH8 Campaign, which raises awareness and
funds for gay rights causes, including ending California's 2008
voter-approved gay marriage ban, Proposition 8.
The 47-year-old Bean announced he's gay
in1999 and talked about his experience in his 2003 memoir Going
the Other Way: Lessons from a life in and out of Major League
Baseball. Bean was an outfielder and a left-handed hitter who
played in the MLB for 8 years ending in 1995. He played for the
Detroit Tigers, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the San Diego Padres and
Japan's Kintetsu Baffaloes for one season. He currently resides in
Florida, where he sells real estate.
The NOH8 Campaign photographs
celebrities and everyday folks with their mouths duct taped and the
campaign's familiar “NOH8” slogan often written on one cheek. It
was started after passage of Proposition 8 by photographer-activist
Adam Bouska and his partner Jeff Parshley.
Bean
is wearing a white shirt and assuming a batting stance in his
photograph.
Other recent athletes who have posted
for the campaign include Carolina
Panthers linebacker Nic Harris and former
NFL player Esera Tuaolo.