Dodgers honor gay trailblazers Glenn Burke and Billy Bean with permanent stadium display

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday unveiled a permanent display honoring LGBTQ+ trailblazers and former players for the team Glenn Burke and Billy Bean, who were the first two major leaguers to say they were gay.

A brief ceremony with their families was held on the team’s 13th Pride Night, hours before the Dodgers hosted the Los Angeles Angels in the Freeway Series.

“It’s brave of them in this day and age to spotlight someone in our community when other organizations are trying to erase us,” said Greg Baker, Bean’s husband.

The families let out audible “aahs” and applauded as a blue curtain dropped on the display under the left-field pavilion near the Dodgers bullpen. Against a swirling rainbow painted on the wall are Burke's No. 3 and Bean's No. 40 framed jerseys, along with a color photo of Burke's baseball card and a black-and-white shot of him in action. Bean's side of the display features two color photos of him. Placards describe their careers and contributions.

“He would be smiling, he would be so happy, he probably would be giving a high-five,” said Joyce Burke Henderson of Vallejo, California, one of Burke's three sisters on hand.

Burke was the first MLB player to come out as gay, announcing it in 1982 after he retired. He played for the Dodgers and Oakland Athletics from 1976 to '79. He and Dodgers teammate Dusty Baker are widely credited with inventing the high-five after they slapped hands on the field in 1977.

Burke Henderson recalled that her brother initially kept his sexuality hidden before reaching a point where “he just didn't care.”

“Nowadays the world is different and we need to conform to what’s going on,” she said. “As long as everybody is safe, they’re healthy, we don’t have the right to tell people how to live their lives. That’s up to them, but just respect that decision.”

Burke died at age 42 in 1995 of AIDS complications.

Four years later, Bean became the second MLB player to reveal that he was gay. Bean did so after he had been retired for four years. Bean was appointed MLB's first ambassador for inclusion in 2014 and later became the league's senior vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion.

Bean was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in 2023 and died the following year at age 60.

“It never stops being emotional,” said Baker, who got choked up addressing the gathering. “It's so well-deserved. I'm so proud of him.”

Baker has remained close to Bean's family, including his parents Ed and Linda Kovac and three brothers who attended.

Baker said he's not surprised that more professional athletes haven't come out.

"I still think there’s a lot of work to do and I think that work is not necessarily like within the sports community. I think it’s within our community as a whole,” he said. “There's always going to be homophobia, just hopefully there’s going to be less and less of it.”

The families took turns posing in front of the wall and taking their own photos of it.

"We still love him,” Burke Henderson said. “We just appreciate the Dodgers honoring him and Billy Bean, too. We knew Billy Bean. They were both great guys.”

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

Attendees reacts during a ceremony prior to a baseball game to unveil a tribute to LGBTQ+ trailblazers and former Los Angeles Dodgers players Billy Bean and Glenn Burke, who were among the first professional athletes to identify as gay, Friday, June 5, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

A tribute to LGBTQ+ trailblazers and former Los Angeles Dodgers players Billy Bean and Glenn Burke, who were among the first professional athletes to identify as gay, is viewed following an unveiling Friday, June 5, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Dr. Greg Baker, left, widower of Billy Bean, speaks during a ceremony prior to a baseball game to unveil a tribute to LGBTQ+ trailblazers and former Los Angeles Dodgers players Bean and Glenn Burke, who were among the first professional athletes to identify as gay, Friday, June 5, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Joyce Henderson, left, sister of Glenn Burke, speaks during a ceremony prior to a baseball game to unveil a tribute to LGBTQ+ trailblazers and former Los Angeles Dodgers players Billy Bean and Burke, who were among the first professional athletes to identify as gay, Friday, June 5, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A man was charged with murder Friday in the stabbing of “Jumanji” and “Top Gun: Maverick” actor James Handy, who was in a relationship with the suspect's mother.

Michael Gledhill, 44, was charged after police say officers found the 81-year-old Handy stabbed in the chest and lying unconscious outside a home in Los Angeles on Wednesday. Handy was taken to the hospital and later pronounced dead.

Gledhill did not appear at an arraignment Friday afternoon in Los Angeles Superior Court and no plea was entered for him. Javier Trincado, Gledhill’s lawyer, said his client is “unable to assist” in his defense and told the judge that the sheriff’s department did not bring Gledhill to the courtroom, but did not provide a reason.

Superior Court Judge John H. Reid ordered that Gledhill be sent to mental health court and undergo psychological evaluations. Another judge will decide whether he is competent for trial.

Authorities say Gledhill was arrested after telling police he was the person they were looking for. Police had responded to the home after a 911 caller stated: “I am the son of man, I just killed the man of sin,” according to the department.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said Handy deserved to enjoy his later years with his loved ones and that the person who took his life should be held accountable.

“This is not how anyone’s life should end, stabbed in the chest and left dying in the front yard of a home,” he said in a statement.

Handy was a character actor in films and on TV for decades, including appearances in a variety of television crime procedurals.

Actor Brian Delate knew Handy for more than four decades after meeting him at a Vietnam veterans theater company in New York. Delate described him as someone with a great sense of humor who was always curious.

Delate told The Associated Press that a few times over the past couple of years, Handy mentioned in passing that his girlfriend's son had mental health problems.

“I didn’t think much of it, because he just kind of mentioned it casually,” he said.

Handy's girlfriend had fixed up the garage so her son could live there, Delate said. Handy had his own home.

Bail was set at $2 million for Gledhill, according to authorities. If convicted, Gledhill faces up to 26 years to life in prison, according to the district attorney’s office.

Emails sent to Trincado and officials from the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office were not immediately answered.

Born in New York, Handy appeared in films and TV shows for decades.

He was known for his role as an exterminator in the 1995 film “Jumanji” and more recently as the bartender Jimmy in the 2022 film “Top Gun: Maverick,” according to IMDB. He’s also appeared in some of the top TV crime dramas, including “NCIS: Los Angeles,” “The Closer” and “Cold Case.”

“I could not have asked for a more talented, humble or gracious client and friend than James Handy,” Pam Ellis-Evenas, from the Ellis Talent Group, said in an email to The Associated Press.

Jeff Hawks, who said he's been friends with Handy for about 10 years after they met at an audition, described him as a hilarious man who had a habit of belting out doo-wop songs when they'd go out to bars.

“I can’t imagine who would ever have a beef with him," he said. "To me, it’s impossible. He was just really a decent guy.”

With Vietnam in mind, Delate lamented how his friend died.

“If he’d just passed away from an illness or something like that, this would be a very different experience,” he said. “But because of the nature of how he died and the fact that we lived in an arena of killing back in the '60s, it has a different resonance.”

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Associated Press journalist Philip Marcelo contributed from New York City.

This image made from video provided by KABC shows the scene at a home where authorities were investigating the fatal stabbing of actor James Handy on Wednesday, June 3, 2026, in Los Angeles. (KABC via AP)