Kieran Lovegrove, who has played at various levels of professional baseball including Minor League Baseball, has come out publicly as bisexual.
Opening up to ESPN’s Joon Lee, Lovegrove talked about the poor conditions minor leaguers play under. As he gets set to retire this offseason, he’s using his voice to bring attention to that issue.
In the same article, he opens up about being bisexual.
“Baseball is a game of statistics,” Lovegrove said. “And if you want to tell me that I’m the only queer person in baseball, I’m just not going to agree with you Someone is terrified because it’s a terrifying prospect to come out. I do encourage any one of them to reach out to me.”
While he’s coming out publicly now, according to the report, he came out to some teammates a couple years ago.
“He distanced himself from his family and felt he had to keep his bisexuality a secret from his teammates,” Lee wrote. “For years, Lovegrove kept his bisexuality a secret, even from his teammates, whom he didn’t tell until 2019.”
The article also dives into Lovegrove’s alcohol abuse and thoughts of suicide.
Lovegrove has gotten looks from the San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles Angels. He was a third-round draft pick by the Cleveland Indians in 2012.
Even if it is on the verge of likely retirement, Lovegrove coming out now gives a touchpoint to other LGBTQ athletes playing in baseball’s minor leagues. Until he retires, he joins Bryan Ruby as one of two publicly out pro baseball players. Of course, there are more — and as Lovegrove said, hopefully they find Ruby and Lovegrove as resources.
You can find Kieran Lovegrove on Instagram and on Twitter.
