Baseball player refuses visit to the White House because he wants to be an LGBTQ ally
Sean Doolittle refused the visit because his wife has two mums and they 'stand for inclusion and acceptance'
By Steve Brown
Words: Steve Brown
A professional baseball player has refused a visit to the White House because he wants to be an ally for the LGBTQ community.
Sean Doolittle is a pitcher for the Washington Nationals and last week, they won the World Series after winning four games against the Houston Astros.
And although the whole team were invited to visit the White House, Doolittle refused the invitation saying that he and his wife, Eirann Doran – who has two mothers – ‘stand for inclusion and acceptance’.
Speaking to the Washington Post, he said: “There’s a lot of things, policies that I disagree with, but at the end of the day, it has more to do with the divisive rhetoric and the enabling of conspiracy theories and widening the divide in this country.
“My wife and I stand for inclusion and acceptance, and we’ve done work with refugees, people that come from, you know, the ‘shithole countries.’
“I want to show support for them. I think that’s an important part of allyship, and I don’t want to turn my back on them.”
The pitcher then didn’t hold back voicing his opinions on the current president.
He continued: “I have a brother-in-law who has autism, and [Trump] is a guy that mocked a disabled reporter.
“How would I explain that to him that I hung out with somebody who mocked the way that he talked or the way that he moves his hands?
“I can’t get past that stuff.”
Despite wanting to join his teammates and being urged on Twitter to respect the office of the presidency, Doolittle – who has been a vocal supporter of the LGBTQ community – could not bring himself to attend.
“At the end of the day, as much as I wanted to be there with my teammates and share that experience with my teammates, I can’t do it,” Doolittle said. “I just can’t do it.
“People say you should go because it’s about respecting the office of the president.
“And I think over the course of his time in office he’s done a lot of things that maybe don’t respect the office.”
Here’s a behind the scenes sneak peek from our commercial shoot for @SMYALDMV! The spot will air on @nbcwashington during Pride Month to promote all of the amazing work SMYAL is doing for the LGBTQ community here in DC! Stay tuned! pic.twitter.com/O52L1309ol
— Obi-Sean Kenobi Doolittle (@whatwouldDOOdo) May 17, 2019