Former Blue Jays pitcher T.J. House becomes third former MLB player to come out as gay in Facebook post – Waterloo Region Record

T.J. House, who pitched for the Toronto Blue Jays during the 2017 season, became the third former MLB player to come out as gay when he announced his engagement on Facebook last week.

House made the engagement announcement to his boyfriend Ryan Neitzel in a lengthy Facebook post in which he explains, “I’m finally healing, and days like today are what helps me continue to grow into the person I’ve been all along, one I’ve locked up for 20 plus years.”

In House’s post Thursday, he addressed the Respect for Marriage Act that was passed by the U.S. Congress.

“Today’s passage of the Respect for Marriage Act protects us to have the same rights and opportunities that each of you have,” House wrote. “It protects the same benefits. It makes us equal to you. It allows Ryan Neitzel and I to come together and create something beautiful.”

House said he’s struggled his entire life with being comfortable in his own skin.

“I’ve been loved my whole life for what I did as a career, and it carried me for the longest time,” he posted. “Eventually though, it’s a bandage that covers a wound that needs fresh air to heal. You have to rip it off at some point if you truly want to get better. Shame has kept me quiet all these years, but love has finally set me free.”

House played four seasons in MLB, three with Cleveland. He made two relief appearances with the Blue Jays at the end of his career, months after he was hit in the head while pitching in spring training.

House joins Glenn Burke, an outfielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Oakland A’s in the 1970s, and Billy Bean, a utility player in the 1980s and 1990s with three teams, as former players who have come out.

Burke never hid his homosexuality from teammates, and believed anti-gay prejudice drove teams to blackball him from MLB, but he also never publicly declared his sexual orientation during his career.

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