A leading voice of the gay rights
movement took the helm of the Chicago Cubs front office last week,
gay newssite ChicagoPride.com
reported.
Forty-one-year-old Laura Ricketts is a
member of the Ricketts family, whose members completed their purchase
of the sports landmark earlier in the year. With the purchase, Laura
became the first openly gay Major League Baseball owner.
Laura serves on the board of New
York-based Lambda Legal, a nationwide group that advocates for gay
rights. The group's lawyers represent LGBT clients, including those
seeking the right to marry.
What role Laura will play in the actual
day-to-day management of the team remains unknown, but if recent
appearances are any indication, she's likely to become a major voice
of the team.
The four siblings – Pete, Tom, Todd
and Laura – made their first public appearance Friday at a press
event headed by Tom Ricketts, 43, chairman of the Cubs.
The Ricketts, however, are not united
on gay rights. Oldest brother, Pete, a conservative Republican from
Omaha who made a bid for the U.S. Senate, is opposed to granting gay
men and lesbians the right to marry.
In a recent interview, Laura talked
down any bad blood between herself and her siblings, telling ABC
affiliate WLS-TV that the family's political diversity makes for
“lively conservations.”
“We don't agree on all the issues of
the day, but when it comes right down to it, we are family and love
each other and that doesn't – that never – changes,” she said.