The MLB has yet to have an openly gay athlete in it’s sport. Billy Bean, a former MLB player that came out in 2003 feels the league is a little too ‘conservative’ to embrace a gay athlete.
Bean was invited to Mets practice yesterday to work out with the team, which led the media to ask Murphy if he’ll accept a gay teammate.
“I disagree with the lifestyle,” he said. “I do disagree with the fact that Billy is a homosexual. That doesn’t mean I can’t still invest in him and get to know him. I don’t think the fact that someone is a homosexual should completely shut the door on investing in them in a relational aspect. Getting to know him. That, I would say, you can still accept them but I do disagree with the lifestyle, 100 percent.”
Murphy went on to elaborate.
“We love the people,” he said. “We disagree with the lifestyle. That’s the way I would describe it for me. It’s the same way that there are aspects of my life that I’m trying to surrender to Christ in my own life. There’s a great deal of many things, like my pride. I just think that as a believer trying to articulate it in a way that says just because I disagree with the lifestyle doesn’t mean I’m just never going to speak to Billy Bean every time he walks through the door. That’s not love. That’s not love at all.”