The New York Yankees are making it clear that they welcome everyone.
Yankees pitchers CC Sabathia and Dellin Betances, along with Yankees general manager Brian Cashman held a ceremony to unveil a plaque, the Stonewall Inn plaque, in Monument Park that pays tribute to the gay rights movement.
The Stonewall Inn Plaque honors the people who fought back during a violent police raid at the Stonewall Inn gay bar in New York City in 1969, and is widely credited with igniting the LGBTQ rights movement.
The ceremony commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Inn Uprising, and also included the owners of the Stonewall Inn, which still operates today in Greenwich Village.
Additionally, the Yankees will be working with owners Stacy Lentz and Kurt Kelly to create a scholarship benefiting LGBTQ public school students.
“[The Yankees have] gone beyond a Pride Night,” Lentz said, according to the New York Daily News.
“They understand that having a permanent fixture when fans come here, LGBTQ fans are going to feel safe and welcome.”
“We want to be an organization that represents inclusion and safe harbor” Cashman said. “We try and make a difference that way.”
“You wear this uniform, you work for this organization, it carries a lot of weight” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “I think that it’s important as an organization we welcome everyone, not only to work for this franchise but from a fanbase.”
“You walk through our clubhouse and you see people from all kinds of walks of life,” Boone continued. “I tell our players sometimes, ‘Love somebody that’s different from you.’…The more people, the more walks of life that we can get involved with this great organization.”