The Chicago Cubs on Monday released
their promised It Gets Better video.
The 60-second video stars outfielder
Marlon Byrd, second baseman Darwin Barney, manager Mike Quade, center
fielder Bob Dernier, starting pitching Ryan Dempster and owner Laura
Ricketts.
The Cubs are the second MLB team after
the San Francisco Giants to reach out to troubled LGBT teens by
recording a video for gay activist Dan Savage's It
Gets Better Project, which encourages troubled gay teens
considering suicide to not cave in to bullies, because life
eventually gets better.
“It is not OK for anyone to feel
uncomfortable or unsafe,” Barney says standing inside Wrigley
Field.
“Something LGBT kids and teens
experience all too often, Dernier says.
“The Chicago Cubs organization
celebrates you for exactly who you are, gay or straight,” Quade
adds.
Ricketts, who made history in 2009 when
she became the first openly gay Major League Baseball owner, alludes
to her own struggle when she says, “We know it can get really
tough, I've been there, so many of us have been there.” (The video
is embedded in the right panel of this page.)
Other MLB teams, including the
Boston Red Sox and the
Seattle Mariners, have also agreed to make a video.