In every sport, there will only ever be one definitive first person to come out as gay. For Major League Baseball, that was Glenn Burke. Burke was a trailblazer in more ways than one; he also invented the high-five out on the field with teammate Dusty Baker in 1977! Burke was openly gay during his short baseball career; a deliberate choice that he made because he wanted to advance the cause of gay people in sports. Most of his LA Dodgers teammates accepted him, but it was believed that an element of homophobia was behind his trade to the Oakland Athletics in 1978.
Burke was never welcomed by the Athletics, subjected to homophobic slurs by new coach Billy Martin in 1980, and he retired after suffering a knee injury before the 1980 season began. He passed away due to complications from AIDS in 1995, aged 42.