Folks, when it comes to standing up for marginalized communities, Major League Baseball has just raised the bar in a way that might bring tears to your eyes: In honor of Pride Month, the MLB will play clips from Call Me By Your Name on the Jumbotron instead of replays.
Absolutely beautiful! It’s progress like this that gives us hope for society!
MLB officials announced today that for the rest of June, all MLB games will be dedicating Jumbotron time typically reserved for game highlights and disputed call reviews to select scenes from Luca Guadagnino’s 2017 queer coming-of-age film. Brief clips of Timothée Chalamet and Armie Hammer’s characters exploring their sexual identities with one another will be screened throughout games , showing baseball players, fans, and umpires alike a non-tragic representation of queer romance that, until now, has been disappointingly absent from baseball replay footage.
Yes, it is damning that it took the MLB over 100 years to include queer cinema on their Jumbotrons. However, overdue as this may be, featuring Elio and Oliver’s navigation of same-sex desire during breaks from live game footage is a big step forward for the sport. The major leagues have a long way to go in embracing the LGTBQ community, so it’s truly inspiring to see the MLB finally step up and highlight Call Me By Your Name’s most tender and/or sexually explicit moments as proudly as they would home runs, fouls, and diving catches.
Simply amazing. Professional baseball is finally catching up with the times. Other sports organizations has better take note, because this is how you do solidarity!
