Open Post: Hosted By The Baseball Legend Who Helped Inspire “A League Of Their Own” Coming Out At Age 95

June 17, 2022 / Posted by:

The new Amazon series A League of Their Own premiered last night at the Tribeca Festival (although it doesn’t hit Amazon Prime until August 12), and Maybelle “Mae” Blair, a player on the All American Girls Professional Baseball League that the story is based on, joined the cast onstage for a panel Q&A. 95-year-old Mae, also known as “All The Way Mae”, applauded the new series for featuring a queer relationship between Carson (Abbi Jacobson) and Greta (D’Arcy Carden). And then she made a big announcement: she’s gay, and she’s finally coming out publicly after hiding for “75, 85 years.” Sorry, Holland Taylor, there’s a new hottest gayelle-cougar in town!

Here’s exactly what Mae said.

I think it’s a great opportunity for these young girl ball players to come to realize that they’re not alone, and you don’t have to hide. I hid for 75, 85 years, and this is actually basically the first time I’ve ever come out.

And the crowd goes wild! The show’s official Instagram account posted the clip:

Then Mae talked about being gay in the ’40s:

They call it queer now, but I call it gay. I thought I was the only one in the world. I thought, “Oh my gosh, Maybelle. What’s wrong with you?” Cuz I had a crush on this girl in high school, and finally we sorta had a little thing… you know how you do. I was with a girl.

It was really bad because in our day you wouldn’t dare tell your family or hint anybody you were gay, it was the most terrible thing in the world, and I thought I was the only one.

Mae goes on to say that she eventually went to Chicago and got on the All American Girls Professional Baseball League, and “it was the most amazing time in my world” because her teammates took her out to a gay bar. Mae says “I was never so happy in my life.” Awww, I’m crying rainbow tears. Happy Pride! Here’s that clip:

Here’s Mae hamming it up on the red carpet (please note that her baseball bat doubles as a walking cane):

And an old black-and-white photo of her on the team:

What a badass. And Mae? If any of those judgmental bitties at Bingo give you shit for being gay, you know what to do (whack them upside the head with your bat-cane). 

Pic: YouTube

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