Pride Night
A Pride Night is a game hosted by a sports team to recognize and attract individuals from the LGBTQ community. During such a game, the home team often acknowledges LGBTQ fans and honors certain individuals or groups. The first Pride Night was hosted by the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball in 2000, and subsequent events have since been hosted by teams from all of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada.
Description
MLB teams often dedicate certain regular season games for specific groups or for specific causes, often as a way to attract members of these communities to their games. For instance, in 2015, the Philadelphia Phillies hosted numerous regular season events at their home venue, Citizens Bank Park, such as Jackie Robinson Salute in April, First Responders Night in May, and Grandparents Day in September. Pride Night events, which recognize the LGBTQ community, are typically held in June, which is Pride Month. In 2021, the Los Angeles Dodgers' Pride Night was one of the first Pride events to take place in the city that year. Pride Night games typically see a higher turnout of LGBTQ fans than normal, with Dodgers executive Erik Braverman estimating that up to half of the audience for their 2021 event being members of the LGBTQ community. During the events, LGBTQ-themed team merchandise is usually sold or given away, while LGBTQ symbols, such as pride flags and rainbow colors, are prominently displayed in the venue.Major League Baseball
First Pride Night events
In 1994, the San Francisco Giants hosted "Until There's a Cure Day" at their stadium to raise money and awareness for the ongoing AIDS epidemic, which Cronkite News stated in 2023 was "one of the first known LGBTQ-supportive nights" in North American sports. However, the first Pride Night occurred in 2000. On August 8 of that year, a lesbian couple, Danielle Goldey and Meredith Kott, were removed by security guards from a Dodgers game at Dodger Stadium for kissing. Following their ejection, the couple reached out to a lawyer with the intent to sue the team. However, before any legal actions were taken, the Dodgers reached out to the couple and both apologized and offered to give them seats behind home plate for a future game. Speaking of the incident, team president Bob Graziano said, "I was troubled... because of what it implied about the Dodger organization." Additionally, the team gave away 5,000 tickets to gay rights groups. The following month, on September 6, GLAAD and the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center hosted a "Gay and Lesbian Night at Dodger Stadium." According to sports commentator Cyd Zeigler, the event is widely considered the first Pride Night at a professional baseball game. However, this event was a one-off occurrence, and at the time, there were no future LGBTQ events planned at Dodger Stadium. During the 2001 season, the Chicago Cubs sponsored "Gay Days" at Wrigley Field. The event, later renamed "Out at Wrigley," was started by Bill Gubrud, a gay man from Chicago, and has been an annual occurrence ever since.Later developments
In 2013, the Dodgers hosted their second Pride event. Over the mid-2010s, the league as a whole attempted to foster a better relationship with the LGBTQ community. In 2014, the league hired Billy Bean, a former baseball player and gay activist, to educate current players and team officials on matters related to LGBTQ issues, such as defamatory language. That same year, MLB issued a letter opposing Arizona SB 1062, arguing that it went against the league's "zero-tolerance policy for harassment or discrimination based on sexual orientation." That same year, the Cleveland Indians hosted a Pride Night to coincide with the 2014 Gay Games that were being hosted in the city. In 2016, the league partnered with the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce in an effort to help LGBTQ-owned businesses seek out MLB contracts. That same year, the Tampa Bay Rays used their Pride Night to raise roughly $300,000 for a fund to help victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting, which had occurred shortly before the event. In 2019, the New York Yankees honored the fiftieth anniversary of the Stonewall riots by unveiling a plaque at Yankee Stadium. In 2021, the Oakland Athletics renamed their annual Pride Night event in honor of former baseball player and gay activist Glenn Burke, who was honored the following year at the Dodgers' Pride Night. In 2023, former Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi threw out the ceremonial first pitch during the Washington Nationals' Pride Night, which they call "Night Out." That same year, the Associated Press called MLB "a leader among the four major pro U.S. sports in hosting Pride Nights, in part because its regular season overlaps with Pride Month in June."Controversies
2022 Tampa Bay Rays rainbow logo patch
During Pride Night events in 2022, three teams—the Dodgers, the Giants, and the Rays—incorporated rainbow-colored logo patches into their uniform. However, multiple players for the Rays stated that they would not be wearing the patch, with relief pitcher Jason Adam calling it a "faith-based decision" on his part. Writing about the decision, sports journalist Tyler Kepner stated that "by allowing the players to opt out of the promotion — and to use the platform to endorse an opposite viewpoint — the Rays undercut the message of inclusion they were trying to send."In June 2023, Commissioner of Baseball Rob Manfred announced that MLB had advised teams against adding rainbow motifs to their logo patches so as not to put players "in a position of doing something that may make them uncomfortable because of their personal views."
2023 Los Angeles Dodgers Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence collaboration
In 2023, the Dodgers announced plans to honor the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence with a Community Hero Award at their Pride Night, to be held on June 16. The Sisters are a San Francisco-based charity and protest group that employ religious symbolism and humor to call attention to intolerance towards LGBTQ people. However, in mid-May, the Dodgers announced that they would not be honoring the group at their Pride Night, effectively disinviting the group. The decision came after the team received significant backlash from several Catholic groups, including the Catholic League, and a letter from Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who asked if the Sisters would be "inclusive and welcoming to Christians." Following this, several LGBTQ advocacy groups expressed disappointment with the team's disinvitation, with the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California and Los Angeles Pride both stating that they would not be participating in the Dodgers' Pride Night, in solidarity with the Sisters. Additionally, the Los Angeles LGBT Center issued a statement saying, "Buckling to pressure from out-of-state, right-wing fundamentalists, the Dodgers caved to a religious minority that is perpetuating a false narrative about L.G.B.T.Q.+ people. They have been fed lies about the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, and have therefore contributed to the ongoing, anti-L.G.B.T.Q. smear campaign happening in this country." In a show of support for the Sisters, Mayor Ashleigh Aitken of Anaheim extended an invitation for them to attend the Pride Night hosted by the Anaheim-based Los Angeles Angels.Following the backlash, on May 22, the Dodgers reversed their decision and reinvited the Sisters to attend their Pride Night and receive the Community Hero Award. The team stated that their decision came after "much thoughtful feedback" and pledged to continue to work with "LGBTQ+ partners to better educate ourselves, find ways to strengthen the ties that bind and use our platform to support all of our fans who make up the diversity of the Dodgers family." Dodgers player Clayton Kershaw criticized the re-invitation, stating that, while he was not opposed to the LGBTQ community, he viewed the Sisters' satirical take on religion as offensive to Christians. Additionally, three American Catholic bishops—Timothy Broglio, Timothy M. Dolan, and José Horacio Gómez—criticized the Dodgers' decision as blasphemous.