Out at Fenway Park
Contact PrideSportsBoston.com for info. Out at Fenway Park II attracted 1,000 LGBT fans on Thursday September 1, 2005. The 2004 event was attended by 500.

Out at the Ballgame
Out at the Ballgame 2007 will take place on Sunday July 15, 2007.
Beginning in 2001, “Out at the Ballgame” is the longest-running “gay day” with a MLB team. This event is organized by the Chicago Free Press.

Gay Games Night
Gay Games Night took place on Friday July 21, 2006, during the Chicago Gay Games. As they say on the White Sox’s TV brodcasts “You can put it on the board!”

Pride Night at Coors Field 
As part of PrideFest, Friday June 23, 2006 was Pride Night at Coors Field. For info, see GLBT Center of Colorado. Note: Wednesday June 21st was Pride Day with the Colorado Rapids (Major League Soccer). (*We are unaware of a 2007 event at this time. Please contact us if you have info.*)

Gay Community Night at the Phillies
The 5th Annual Gay Community Night at the Phillieswill take place on Thursday August 9, 2007.
Over 500 LGBT fans took in Phillies gay day in 2006. The national anthem was performed by the Delaware Rainbow Chorale, and an after-party was held at Shampoo (attended by the frisky Philly Phanatic). In 2005, the national anthem was sung by the Philadelphia Gay Men’s Chorus and Outsports.com co-founder Cyd Zeiler threw out the first pitch.

For article and pics, see Outsports article and PhillyGayDays.com.

Pittsburgh Pirates Pride Night 
Saturday June 17, 2006 was Pittsburgh PrideFest 2006. In conjunction with that event was the 3rd annual Pride Night with the Pirates, presented by the Gay & Lesbian Community Center of Pittsburgh. (*We are unaware of a 2007 event at this time. Please contact us if you have info.*)

Pride Night at Petco Park 
The San Diego Padres host Pride Night at Petco Park on Sunday July 8, 2007. “San Diego Pride supporters and volunteers will be recognized for organizing the group event with a scoreboard welcome and the Gay Men’s Chorus of San Diego will sing the National Anthem.”
See San Diego Padres website for event info and tickets.

LGBT Night Out LGBT Night Out logo
The 2007 LGBT Night Out will take place on Monday August 27, 2007.
The San Francisco Giants hosted 2 LGBT Nights Out in 2006, on Tuesday June 6, 2006 and Tuesday September 12, 2006. See www.sfgiants.com/specialevents for event info and tickets.

San Jose Mercury News article: Complex field for gay sports fans

Play with PrideLGBT baseball fans were treated to a 6-3 victory over the KC Royals at the 3rd Annual Toronto Blue Jays Pride Night held on Friday August 25, 2006. Organized by gaybaseballdays.com, Team Toronto and with the support of other community groups, including LSBN Toronto and Big Mamma’s Boy.

Blue Jays Pride Night events in 2004 and 2005 attracted several hundred LGBT Jays fans and raised money for the Toronto Pride Committee. Special guests included Scott Thompson (Kids in the Hall), Mark Tewksbury (Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer) and the Forte Men’s Chorus. In 2006, the national anthems were performed by Billy Newton-Davis.

 

Globe & Mail article: Gays and Jays to celebrate Pride Night

Night Out with the Nationals III
Night Out at the Nationals IIItook place on Monday July 16, 2007. Over 2,000 people attended the event. The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington D.C. sang the national anthem.
The over 1,400 fans attended the second Night Out with the Nationals on Tuesday August 8, 2006 vs. Florida Marlins. Event organized by Team DC.

Washington Blade article (w/photos): Gay baseball night draws 1,100 to RFK (2005)
Detroit News: Gays make a strong pitch for acceptance (2007)


Major League Baseball is reaching out to the Gay and Lesbian Community

In recent years, a growing number of MLB teams have hosted gay and lesbian community events or groups, including the Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, New York Mets, Oakland A’s, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, Texas Rangers, Washington Nationals and Toronto Blue Jays. And others, such as the San Francisco Giants, Florida Marlins and Baltimore Orioles, have hosted AIDS Awareness Days.SkyDome sign

Homosexuality a hot button issue in baseball

Although only a couple of former MLB players (Glenn Burke and Billy Bean) and one umpire (Dave Pallone) have come out as gay, homosexuality is a hot button issue in baseball.

Recent years have seen: anti-gay comments by John Rocker, Todd Jones and others; Mike Piazza and Sandy Kofax’s “I’m not gay” announcements; and Kaz Tadano’s gay porn “issue;” John Smoltz’s anti-gay marriage comments; and Ozzie Guillen’s “fag” comment. For more, see Outsports.com’s anti-gay slurs list.Wrigley Field

Encouragingly, though, some players have acknowledged that there are likely gay players and, in a recent survey (Tribune Company, 2004), 74% said they would have “no problem” playing with a gay teammate.

Gaybaseballdays.com hopes to raise awareness of gay and lesbian community days with MLB teams, and encourage other teams to recognize their gay and lesbian fan base. We encourage individuals and community organizations to work with their local teams in organizing these events.

RECOMMENDED READING: GAYS IN SPORTS
Jocks 2 book cover
• Jocks 2, profiles of gay athletes by Dan Woog• Going the Other Way, autobiography of gay former MLB player Billy Bean• Gay former MLB umpire Dave Pallone’s autobiography Behind the Mask• David Kopay Story, the autobiography of gay former NFL player

• The Front Runner, Patricia Nell Warren’s novel about a gay coach and athlete

Although we have not read these yet, here are some other books worth checking out:

• Gay former NFL player Esera Tuaolo’s autobiography, Alone in the Trenches: My Life as a Gay Man in the NFL. Tuaolo, his partner and their two kids, can also be seen in the HBO documentary All Abord! Rosie’s Family Cruise, about the first-ever LGBT family cruise. Terrific, feel-good film.

• Inside Out: Straight Talk from a Gay Jock, gold medal-winning Olympic swimmer (and current co-president of OutGames Montreal) Mark Tewksbury’s autobiography

• fiction and non-fiction book listings from Outsports.com

For information, comments, questions or help, please e-mail:
[email protected]