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“A League of Their Own”: Baseball legend, 95, comes out as a lesbian after filming
“A League of Their Own” is new to Prime Video
© Amazon Prime Video
Maybelle Blair has a guest appearance in the new Prime Video series A League of Their Own. At a press conference, she came out as a lesbian – at the age of 95.
America, 1943: Many men were fighting in World War II, including professionals from the baseball league. So that the public could continue to watch games, women’s teams came into focus for the first time. Like the Rockford Peaches. During matches they should smile, wear short pink skirts and red knee socks. This was the only way they were allowed to compete in the AAGPBL, the All-American Women’s Professional Baseball League. In eight episodes, Prime Video is now showing the history of the team with the series “A League of Their Own”.
If you look closely during the trial session in the first episode, you will also discover two contemporary witnesses. One wears a red sweater, the other a checked jacket. The latter is Shirley Burkovich, who played in the AAGPBL for three seasons and died in March aged 89. Next to her in the red sweater is Maybelle Blair, 95. She was asked before filming began, so she was able to incorporate her knowledge and experience. There is also a character in the series named Maybelle.
Blair came out as a lesbian at a press conference in June. She was at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York promoting the series. She had kept her secret to herself for decades. When asked if she had ever been married, she always dismissed the fact that no man wanted her. In truth, she feared losing her job and being shunned by other people.
“A League of Their Own”: Spätes Coming-out
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After coming out, she felt relieved, as she told the newspaper. But she was briefly unsettled when she thought of her family’s reaction. But she also reacted consistently positively: “My whole family supported me. Thank God. Because I was worried. At my age I didn’t know what they would think or if they would deny me, but it had to come out. Because I had to, if I could help all these young girls so they wouldn’t have to go through what I was going through.”
The series also treats queer love as a matter of course. Some players fall in love with each other, but they are not allowed to openly avoid it and show it. So “A League of Their Own” has become an interesting portrait of American society in the 1940s, which is well worth seeing due to its modern approach.
Additional sources: “Los Angeles Times“, “New York Times“
