Article
Bryan Ruby made history on Thursday, becoming the only active professional baseball player to come out as gay.
First reported by USA Today, the country singer and Salem-Keizer Volcanoes player is the only pro ballplayer, at any level, to be publicly out. "I kept thinking about the little 14-year-old me, who was scared because I'm a baseball player who loved country music," said Ruby. "Those are worlds where people like me are told they can't belong. I'm not a hot-shot prospect. But today, you can't find a single active baseball player who is out publicly. I want to help create a world where future generations of baseball players don't have to sacrifice authenticity or who they really are to play the game they love."
After “being closeted for basically 10 years,” Ruby came out to his friends, family, and teammates gradually. His public announcement came last. "But I don't like the connotation to, 'coming out,’” Ruby said. “Because it's more like 'inviting in.'"
Bryan Ruby is now the third openly gay active player in men’s professional sports — his public announcement coming only a few months after NHL player Luke Prokop’s coming out and NFL defensive end Carl Nassib, who recently became the first out player to sign to the NFL regular season roster. While other minor league ballplayers have come out as gay while active in the past, Ruby is now the sole out player in professional baseball.
“The best way to describe the hiding as an athlete is like you're running with a weighted vest on," Ruby said. "It's on all day and you can't take it off. I've been gradually taking that weight off."
Professional baseball has a long, pained history of homophobia — specifically with the use of homophobic slurs during games. Ruby’s teammates and coaches on the Volcanoes have voiced their support for the 25-year-old journeyman, sharing that Ruby’s courage in coming out to them will now allow them to help protect him from homophobia on the field.
"Bryan understands that until there's more people like him or Carl Nassib (out), voices matter," said Billy Bean, the MLB Vice President and special assistant to the commissioner, who also happens to be a mentor and close friend of Ruby’s.
“Each time somebody comes out in industries where queer people have not been historically represented in the mainstream, it helps to crumble the myth that you can't be yourself,” said Ruby. “But we're in the 2020s. It's about damn time for this… If I can help just one person from this, then that’s greater than any single hit or home run or win that I ever get on the field."
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About the game:
USA as a world power? In E-Sim it is possible!
In E-Sim we have a huge, living world, which is a mirror copy of the Earth. Well, maybe not completely mirrored, because the balance of power in this virtual world looks a bit different than in real life. In E-Sim, USA does not have to be a world superpower, It can be efficiently managed as a much smaller country that has entrepreneurial citizens that support it's foundation. Everything depends on the players themselves and how they decide to shape the political map of the game.
Work for the good of your country and see it rise to an empire.
Activities in this game are divided into several modules. First is the economy as a citizen in a country of your choice you must work to earn money, which you will get to spend for example, on food or purchase of weapons which are critical for your progress as a fighter. You will work in either private companies which are owned by players or government companies which are owned by the state. After progressing in the game you will finally get the opportunity to set up your own business and hire other players. If it prospers, we can even change it into a joint-stock company and enter the stock market and get even more money in this way.
In E-Sim, international wars are nothing out of the ordinary.
Become an influential politician.
The second module is a politics. Just like in real life politics in E-Sim are an extremely powerful tool that can be used for your own purposes. From time to time there are elections in the game in which you will not only vote, but also have the ability to run for the head of the party you're in. You can also apply for congress, where once elected you will be given the right to vote on laws proposed by your fellow congress members or your president and propose laws yourself. Voting on laws is important for your country as it can shape the lives of those around you. You can also try to become the head of a given party, and even take part in presidential elections and decide on the shape of the foreign policy of a given state (for example, who to declare war on). Career in politics is obviously not easy and in order to succeed in it, you have to have a good plan and compete for the votes of voters.
You can go bankrupt or become a rich man while playing the stock market.
The international war.
The last and probably the most important module is military. In E-Sim, countries are constantly fighting each other for control over territories which in return grant them access to more valuable raw materials. For this purpose, they form alliances, they fight international wars, but they also have to deal with, for example, uprisings in conquered countries or civil wars, which may explode on their territory. You can also take part in these clashes, although you are also given the opportunity to lead a life as a pacifist who focuses on other activities in the game (for example, running a successful newspaper or selling products).
At the auction you can sell or buy your dream inventory.
E-Sim is a unique browser game. It's creators ensured realistic representation of the mechanisms present in the real world and gave all power to the players who shape the image of the virtual Earth according to their own. So come and join them and help your country achieve its full potential.
Invest, produce and sell - be an entrepreneur in E-Sim.
Take part in numerous events for the E-Sim community.