Laura Ricketts

The Ricketts family, including out daughter Laura, made headlines when they purchased the Cubs in October 2009. Since then, the 43-year-old mom has upped the club’s gay cred by appearing twice in the Pride Parade and helping launch an It Gets Better anti-bullying video. We spoke with Ricketts via phone about homophobia in sports and going to bat for the LGBT community.

Was it a big deal to you that the Cubs became the first major league baseball team with an out owner?
I’m not sure it’s accurate. I think there’s a couple of people that own minor positions in major league sports teams. But to be honest, we were so caught up in getting the deal done, that really never occurred to me until that headline came out. Then I became so much more aware of the unique position I was in. There are very few of us and even fewer out women in that position.

Do you feel pressure to be a community leader?
I don’t know that I have felt the community really placing more expectations on me than I’ve already placed on myself. Just owning a team like the Chicago Cubs is a huge responsibility to all of the fans, to the team itself, to the city of Chicago and to the community. The LGBT community is certainly a part of that as well.

Tell me about your interest in activism and how it translates to the Cubs.
I see them as very separate. The staff and team were sensitive to these issues before my family purchased the team. Last year I think we were the first major league sports team with a float in the Chicago Pride Parade [aside from] the Blackhawks with the Stanley Cup. I’d love to take credit for that, but it wasn’t really my idea. The staff brought that to me and I said, “Yes, let’s run with that. We should do that every year.”

Talk about the Cubs’ new It Gets Better video.
It hadn’t occurred to me to do that until the Giants did it, and really I got the idea at the same time as a couple of staff people. Prior to that, I had not thought about it in part because the Cubs have enough going on right now and also our family’s still learning a lot about the workings of the Cubs. At the Pride Parade, I had a number of people come up to me and tell me how they can’t watch it without tearing up. I’ve received a number of e-mails saying, “I’ve been a Cubs fan all my life and I’ve never been more proud.”

Do you find there’s still a lot of homophobia in sports?
I’m in a unique position. I’m not a player, I’m not a coach, so I have a very different perspective than a lot of people do in sports. I’m sure there is, given the fact that there aren’t more out athletes, but that hasn’t been the case for me.

Are we seeing a shift toward more LGBT-friendliness in pro sports?
We’ve seen a couple of baby steps. Across the country more people are coming out generally, and therefore some of the false stereotypes are being torn down and some of those barriers based on homophobia and bigotry are starting to disintegrate. I think it is having an effect on professional sports, but time will tell.

Out at Wrigley plays ball Sunday 17.