UK rugby star Ben Cohen and retired MLB
player Billy Bean have been spotted attending Gay Pride events in
Portland and Atlanta.
The openly straight Cohen retired from
rugby in 2011 and launched the Ben
Cohen StandUp Foundation to combat homophobia and the bullying of
LGBT teens. Cohen is particularly interested in promoting greater
acceptance in the world of sports.
Bean announced he's gay in 1999 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 Los Angeles, where
he sells real estate. Bean recently joined Cohen's foundation.
Cohen and Bean marched in Portland's
Gay Pride Parade on Sunday.
Two days later, the men were shaking
hands and posing for pictures with fans at Turner Field during the
Atlanta Braves' Out in the Stands night.