Laura Ricketts Is First Openly Gay MLB Owner

The Chicago Cubs have reached a baseball milestone and it has nothing to do with their century-plus World Series drought.

With the team's purchase by the Ricketts Family, the Cubs are the first Major League Baseball team to have an openly gay owner.

Among the new owners is Laura Ricketts, an out lesbian who is also on the board of the gay rights organization Lambda Legal, the Windy City Times reports.

Ricketts, who is a member of the Cubs board of directors, came out to her family in her 30's.

"I think for a long time I wasn't really out to myself growing up in Omaha, Neb., to a Catholic conservative family," Ricketts said. "It took me a while to come out to myself and not long after that I came out to them. I think that it really couldn't of been a better experience. They were all immediately supportive. ... I have been really really fortunate in that regard."

The Ricketts family bought the Cubs and Wrigley Field from the Tribune Co. for $845 million in a deal that was finalized Oct. 27.

The league owners unanimously approved the Cubs sale to the Ricketts family.

Comments

[moephoto]

01:58 PM on 01/17/2010

This is not news. C'mon already. Are we supposed to gossip about someone being gay? Let's put on our big boy and big girl pants and move on to some real news.

[postman66]

02:54 PM on 11/03/2009

Great fit, Wrigley is in the most openly Gay neighborho­od in Chicago.

[jws2346]

01:45 PM on 11/03/2009

Who cares if the lady is gay? Is she a good owner that treats her employees and team fair? Believe me, the grocery stare could care less if someone's paycheck came for a gay, a straight or a martian, as long as it didn't bounce and wasn't illegal. What a non starter

[Joe The Nerd Ferraro]

11:24 AM on 11/03/2009

i hope she can buy a stake in the St Louis Rams too...

[daffey]

11:13 AM on 11/03/2009

And? How do we know there haven’t been in the past, and they just kept it quiet? And why am I even posting this? Why am I even reading a headline that is about something that is supposed to be no one’s business? Sometimes I just can’t keep up with the times I guess.

[CAMBEL]

11:55 AM on 11/03/2009

Nobodys business? Give me a break, every TV commercial­, every movie, every straight couple at the airport giving each other a kiss good-bye or walking hand in hand is publicly proclaimin­g their hetrosexua­lity. This announceme­nt is just doing the same thing as if a different owner was annouced as being "Engaged to his girlfriend of 6 years" etc...

[daffey]

03:14 PM on 11/03/2009

OK, so homosexual­ity is now everyone's business. Having an opinion or belief will no longer be smacked down with 'hey! It's no one's business!' That's cool. I just like to keep up with the latest.

As for the similarity­, please point me to a headline that says 'openly heterosexu­al person buys...'

[zenlikejen]

12:54 PM on 11/03/2009

The title says first OPENLY gay owner...ho­w hard was that to follow?

[daffey]

03:15 PM on 11/03/2009

Oh, I get it. Just wanted to make sure homosexual­ity is now open for public debate. Used to be no one's business. I just like to keep up with the latest.

[american-dolt]

10:37 AM on 11/03/2009

In the year 2084, "The 1st 1 Legged, Albino Transsexua­l Jewish-Esk­imo with stink-foot­" Buys a Major League Team.

[SaintZak]

10:28 AM on 11/03/2009

Wrigley Field is located in a largely gay neighborho­od. There have been 'gay days" at the park for a number of years now. the cubs were one of the local sponsors of the Halsted st. Halloween parade. I don't think there's been much trouble between the Cubs and gays.

[steamboat]

09:53 AM on 11/03/2009

Who cares ! It seems like its only the LIBERAL blogs such as Huffington­'s that make a big deal out of it.

[CAMBEL]

11:55 AM on 11/03/2009

Yeah, you're right the conservati­ves much prefer to mobilize their funds and people to get out the vote efforts aimed at halting any law giving gay people rights.

[steamboat]

04:49 PM on 11/03/2009

Example: If California is the indication­, that was the Black and Hispanic voters who voted v. the gays. There not the cons......­....BTW, wasn't it Clinton who gave us DADT?

[zenlikejen]

12:57 PM on 11/03/2009

I can't say I waste much time posting about things I "don't care" about. Why do you?

Of COURSE liberal blogs "make a big deal" out of things like this - conservati­ve rags spend THEIR time rallying the troops AGAINST all things "gay".

[GeoNorth]

09:29 AM on 11/03/2009

So what?

[vippy]

08:19 AM on 11/03/2009

This should be a non-story! Why did we not read that Jeff Skilling, the ENRON GUY, was acquitted?

[blaharumph]

07:44 AM on 11/03/2009

she looks related to sarah vowel...

[local21]

07:33 AM on 11/03/2009

Come with me to the south side of Chicago
That's where the Sox play, come on, come on, come on
The Sox wont let you down , we love them in our town
Come with me to the south side of Chicago

[Harvee Wallbanger]

04:10 AM on 11/03/2009

Take that, Limbaugh!

[morganhoyle]

03:27 AM on 11/03/2009

I'm more excited to see how they plan to change the team. The cubs need all the help they can get!!

[steamboat]

09:57 AM on 11/03/2009

You are right, Morgan. Since when are the Cubs a major leauge team? Whats that old saying: If people at Wrigley want to see major leauge baseball, they need to travel 8.1 miles south to US Cellular Field. Thats where the White Sox play.

[excitablerooster]

12:25 PM on 11/03/2009

Hopefullly they call Rosie O'Donnel up from the minors.

[CosmicCowboy]

02:29 AM on 11/03/2009

It would be lot more controvers­ial if it was a gay man who bought a major league sports team. Str8 men are more threatened by gay men than gay womwn.

[jukesgrrl]

06:06 AM on 11/03/2009

At least one gay man already owns a major league sports team. He's not out to the public and I don't blame him, but I'd be shocked if his team and his fellow owners didn't know.