In our demographic here, in our area, it’s a natural. “That’s awesome, it really is,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. It’s life.”ĭolan, her mothers, dad Tom, and other members of her family even her two brothers are planning to come will sit with those representatives of Our Space at the June game. “It’s something that’s considered controversial. “They’re great people, and they’re going to do what they think is best for that night.
“This is so humbling and so magical,” Our Space posted on its Facebook page.”Ī’s catcher Stephen Vogt appreciates teammates who stand up for something they care about. and questioning” and offers a safe space for 14- to 21-year-olds to explore their identities while building a community and developing life and leadership skills and also receiving any mental health care needed. Our Space refers to itself as “a community center for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender …. “We’re used to social media being the worst.” “Every time I see it, I can’t look any more because it makes me want to cry,” she said Wednesday night while watching the A’s at the Coliseum. Leftover donations not used for ticket purchases will be divided between Our Space, AIDS Project East Bay and Frameline, a distributor of award-winning lesbian and gay films and videos to educational and community groups. Maybe we underestimated it a little bit.” I wasn’t quite sure what I was getting myself into. It has continued to carry momentum for a couple weeks now. It’s not something that blew up for a couple days. “It’s a testament to this fan base the way they vow to support the members of the LGBT community, within this part of the country and within the A’s fan base,” Doolittle said. She signed off, “Love, Eireann and my hella gay moms.” While Dolan initially heard from a few fans who were interested, none actually followed through to sell her the tickets with follow-up contact. Sell her the tickets, she would buy as many of them as she could at face value and donate them to Our Space. “It’s more like all over North America,” Doolittle said.ĭolan also made quite the offer to those fans who didn’t want to attend. There even have been donations from former A’s such as Tommy Milone and his wife, and from fans in other cities, such as Detroit and Los Angeles. “Unbelievable.”ĭolan’s efforts had brought in more than $34,500 as of Wednesday night far more than her initial $10,000 goal. “I should believe it but every time I see the number go up I go back into shock,” Dolan said this week. She also made a commitment with Doolittle to match up to $3,000 raised. Her mom, Kathy, and her partner, Elise, are fans of both the A’s and Padres and, by fortunate chance, their opponent for June 17 is San Diego.ĭolan shared the personal story on her blog, “Thank You Based Ball.”Īnd she went to work setting up a donations page on the website to raise money for members of Our Space, an LGBT youth center, to attend Pride Night.
She scrolled the A’s feed to find out what people were saying when she saw some negative feedback including one fan who planned to sit this one out.ĭolan, who dates Oakland reliever Sean Doolittle, supported her mother as she came out when Dolan was a teenager. The moment Dolan read that the Oakland Athletics will host Pride Night in June to celebrate and host members of the lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender communities, she quickly posted word to her 25,000 Twitter followers. She sure is making her mother proud, and her father, too. Specifically to youth who might be struggling with who they are. (AP) Eireann Dolan had no idea she would inspire a movement just by offering her support to the gay community.