Culture » Lifestyle

Baseball Organist Trolls Homophobic Player with Songs of Love

by Kilian Melloy

EDGE Staff Reporter

Tuesday September 4, 2018

A few years ago pro baseball player Daniel Murphy dissed Billy Bean, the inclusion ambassador for Major League Baseball, by demeaning his being gay as a "lifestyle," as if it had something to do with Bean's shopping habits, taste in cars, or the kind of vacations he took.

"I disagree with his lifestyle," Murphy remarked at the time. "I do disagree with the fact that Billy is a homosexual." Murphy then went on to say, "I don't think the fact that someone is a homosexual should completely shut the door on investing in them in a relational aspect.... but I do disagree with the lifestyle, 100 percent."

Murphy's uninformed comments caused a controversy at the time, and that controversy flared to life once more when he was traded by the Nationals to the Cubs last month, MSN recalled in a report.

As the New York Post reported at the time of the Cubs acquiring Murphy, "The second baseman would not say directly if he had changed his opinion of Bean's sexual orientation in three years, by he did say he and Bean are on good terms."

The organist for the Braves, Matthew Kaminski, had a chance to respond to Murphy in music when Murphy's team, the Chicago Cubs, played the Braves on August 30, just a couple of weeks after he had joined the Cubs. As the New England Sports Network reports, Kaminski serenaded the stadium with passages from various songs about love and LGBTQ acceptance - including Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" and "Lola," a song by The Kings about a trans woman and a straight man.

Organist Alert posted video clips of Kaminski's performances throughout the game.

Fans, in turn, took to Twitter to express their appreciation for Kaminski's witty riposte, and Kaminski appreciated the fans right back.

Outsports also reported on Kaminski's tuneful tutting of the homophobic player, noting that Murphy's bias is seemingly rooted in the player's self-proclaimed Christian faith.

Sports remains one of the last secular bastion of anti-LGBTQ prejudice, but in recent years that has started to change. "It's cool to see baseball fans coming together to reject the anti-gay sentiments of one of the game's high-profile players," the Outsports article said.

Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.