Eric Peterson (left) receiving the Commissioner's Award at the Official N.A.G.A.A.A. Softball Meetings in January 2018 from Chris Balton
It’s not often that an individual receives a Milwaukee Mayoral Proclamation. Usually, the criteria would be a 75th birthday or a posthumous recognition of services rendered. Eric Peterson, who is 38 and a well-known leader in Milwaukee’s LGBTQ community and beyond, is a rare exception to the rule. Fortunately, although the honor that declared June 23 Eric Peterson Day, was bestowed in the shadow of his departure, Peterson is alive and well. Sadly, however, he has made a career move to Flagstaff, Ariz. (of all places) that has taken him from us.
Peterson’s brief stay in Milwaukee began in 2013. Having moved from Madison for a county government job, he quickly became involved in the local LGBTQ community. A softball player, he naturally joined the Saturday Softball Beer League (SSBL). He immediately became its assistant commissioner and, in 2014, its commissioner. In 2017 he became president of the Milwaukee Gay Sports Network (MGSN). His leadership brought significant changes to SSBL’s recruitment strategy as well as its greater role as an umbrella for Milwaukee’s LGBTQ sports. A social justice advocate, Peterson saw certain deficiencies and iniquities within the existing system. Universal inclusion was one.
While anyone was free to join a team, for some, player’s fees and other expenses made participation cost prohibitive. By adjusting fee rates and providing equipment for those who could not otherwise afford it, Peterson addressed and solved the problem. By encouraging a fall softball season and new sports like rugby and kickball, Peterson made athletics more accessible to more people. To market LGBTQ sports, he also expanded SSBL’s and MGSN’s footprint at PrideFest.
Perhaps the greatest success was SSBL’s participation in Miller Park’s program for concession volunteers that allows organizations to provide staff for the various concession stands and earn a percentage of the sales. SSBL had essentially funded NAGAAA-Fest, the 2009 Gay Softball World Series held in Milwaukee through money raised through this program. However, its participation ended after the World Series. Peterson rethought the idea and reengaged SSBL and MGSN members as Miller Park volunteers.
This time, however, funds raised would not only support the league but players as well. An individual volunteer created an account. Accrued funds could be used for sports activities or health-related expenses like smoking cessation therapy. It was also opened to players in other sports. According to Peterson, in 2017 the total raised was $75,000. This season, SSBL committed to working every home game making the program its greatest fundraising resource.
Peterson also joined the board of directors of Cream City Foundation (CCF), the city’s LGBTQ philanthropy organization where he soon rose to become the board chairperson. His affable nature, political acumen and innate sense of social justice as a motivation brought changes to that organization as well. His leadership positively impacted that organization’s function. His dual leadership roles in sports and philanthropy brought in MGSN as a major funder for the newly created CCF scholarship program.
Eric Peterson will be sorely missed. His affable nature and unflappable, unrelenting commitment to human and civil rights, economic empowerment and social action motivated his own actions and inspired many to follow his lead. Those virtues will hopefully endure in his successors.
