Former Pittsburgh Pirates owner comes out

Kevin McClatchy, who lives in western Pennsylvania with his long-time partner, owned the Pittsburgh Pirates until 2007. (Photo by PGHJared via Flickr)

PITTSBURGH — The chairman of the nation’s third largest newspaper company has come out, saying he hopes it will spark change.

“I hope in some small way that this article will create a dialogue in sports. Dialogue can lead to more understanding of the situation,” former Pittsburgh Pirates owner Kevin McClatchy, who chairs the newspaper company founded by his great-great grandfather, James McClatchy in 1857, told the Miami Herald. “There needs to be some education on the subject that will lead to more dialogue and sensitivity. The emptiness you feel you can’t talk about, I hope no kid in 2012 goes through that.”

McClatchy came out to gay New York Times columnist Frank Bruni last week. According to the Miami Herald, gay rumors swirled around McClatchy’s father throughout his life before he died suddenly of a heart attack in 1989.