O’Keeffe: ESPN’s Christina Kahrl blazes a trail in baseball
From Michael O’Keeffe at the New York Daily News on October 24, 2015, on SABR member Christina Kahrl:
ESPN’s Christina Kahrl believes the Mets have a great shot at winning their first World Series title since 1986, thanks to the club’s young, heat-throwing pitching staff.
The 47-year-old transgender baseball writer and editor also understands she may never win over people like the Mets’ postseason phenomenon Daniel Murphy, who told reporters he disagreed with what he called the homosexual “lifestyle” after gay ex-major leaguer Billy Bean visited the Mets’ spring training facility in March.
“Even if we achieve all the things we need for full equality, there are still going to be people with their own flavor of bigotry,” says Kahrl, who serves on the board of directors of GLAAD and Equality Illinois and has battled to end discrimination against transgender people. “We are not trying to legislate how people think. We are trying to make sure people get a fair shake.”
Murphy, fortunately for Kahrl, is not representative of the athletes she has covered since she made the public transition from Chris to Christina in [2002-03]. Caitlyn Jenner may have sparked a national conversation about gender identity this year — and perhaps even greater acceptance for transgender people. But Kahrl says she has found nothing but respect and acceptance since [2002-03].
Read the full article here: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/espn-christina-kahrl-blazing-diamond-trail-article-1.2410091?cid=bitly
Originally published: October 30, 2015. Last Updated: October 30, 2015.