Trans woman throws ceremonial first pitch at Thursday’s Jays game

More than three years after Yunel Escobar brandished an anti-gay slur at a Toronto Blue Jays game, the team made history by having a trans woman throw the first pitch on Thursday night.

On the team’s annual Pride Night at Rogers Centre, Rachel Lauren Clark became the first openly trans person to throw a ceremonial pitch at a Jays game.

“I’m really, really nervous,” she told CityNews.

“I’ve thrown pitches before, but never in front of 50,000 people. So, that’s a little scary. But it’s so important to the community and it’s a responsibility that I don’t take lightly.”

Clark, an IT professional and masters of divinity student, started living openly as Rachel in 2013. She told Toronto Life she grew up on a farm in upstate New York and even joined the U.S. Marine Corps and Navy. Her company transferred her to Toronto in 2003.

“I would love it if we lived in a world where there wasn’t firsts anymore, but that still unfortunately happens,” she said.

“And firsts are good things. They help to blaze trails.”

In 2004, the Jays became the first MLB team to host a Pride Night, celebrating the LGBT community with discounted tickets and celebrity appearances.

And in late 2012, it suspended Escobar for three games after he turned up at the Rogers Centre with the words “Tu ere maricon,” or “You are a f—-t“ in Spanish, written across his eye black.

But the sports world can sometimes be known more for its machismo than being inclusive and open-minded.

Just weeks ago, ESPN fired baseball analyst and former All-Star pitcher Curt Schilling over an offensive post on Facebook about trans people using bathrooms and locker rooms that don’t match their birth genders.