Champion baseball player turns down White House invitation in solidarity with LGBT community
Sean Doolittle (Scott Taetsch/Getty)
Champion baseball player Sean Doolittle has declined an invitation to a ceremony in the White House because he disagrees vehemently with the policies of Donald Trump.
Doolittle – who plays for the Washington Nationals – told the Washington Post that he cannot justify visiting the White House as he finds Trump’s policies offensive.
He revealed that part of the reason he refused to visit the White House is because his wife has two mothers and he wanted to “show support for them”.
“I think that’s an important part of allyship, and I don’t want to turn my back on them.”
Sean Doolittle refused to visit White House over Donald Trump and his ‘divisive rhetoric’.
“There’s a lot of things, policies that I disagree with, but at the end of the day, it has more to do with the divisive rhetoric and the enabling of conspiracy theories and widening the divide in this country,” Doolittle said.
“At the end of the day, as much as I wanted to be there with my teammates and share that experience with my teammates, I can’t do it. I just can’t do it.”
I think that’s an important part of allyship, and I don’t want to turn my back on them.
Elsewhere in the interview, Doolittle drew attention to Trump’s treatment of race issues, refugees and disabled people.
“I feel very strongly about his issues on race relations,” he said. Doolittle spoke about the Fair Housing Act, the Central Park Five as well as Trump’s comments about white supremacy as examples of problem areas.
Doolittle said that Trump has disrespected the office of the president.
“I have a brother-in-law who has autism, and [Trump] is a guy that mocked a disabled reporter. How would I explain that to him that I hung out with somebody who mocked the way that he talked or the way that he moves his hands? I can’t get past that stuff.”
The baseball player also revealed that some people have taken issue with his refusal to visit the White House and said he should be respecting the office of the president.
However, Doolittle feels that Trump himself has disrespected the office on a number of occasions – and believes that this is the most important issue.
Doolittle and his wife Eireann Dolan have advocated for the rights of LGBT+ people on a number of occasions.
