Major League Baseball on Tuesday is
expected to announce a new policy against harassment and
discrimination based on sexual orientation.
According to the AP, the league will
announce the new policy before the 2013 All-Star Game at Citi Field.
Expected to attend the news conference are MLB Commissioner Bud
Selig, MLB Players Association Executive Director Michael Weiner and
New York State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman, who helped
draft the new policy. Schneiderman announced similar protections for
National Football League (NFL) players earlier this year.
The policy will create a workplace code
of conduct for players and a system for reporting incidents. Players
who file a complaint will be protected from retaliation.
Selig told
the AP that baseball has “zero tolerance” for discrimination.
Neither the MLB nor the NFL has an
openly gay player. Players from both leagues, however, have come out
in retirement. In 1999, four years after his retirement, outfielder
Billy Bean announced he's gay, and last year former Pittsburgh
Pirates owner Kevin McClatchy came out gay.
(Related: Kevin
McClatchy on an openly gay baseball player: It's going to happen.)