All about Gay Baseball Days with MLB teams
|
2008 Major League Baseball Gay & Lesbian Days
Please note: this website has not been updated for 2009 |
|
|
Night Out with the Nationals IV
Date: Monday June 23, 2008 - Nationals vs. Angels Over 2,000 community and Nationals supporters attended this event. The Gay Men's Chorus of Washington sang the national anthem and local AIDS expert Dr. Moody Mustafa threw out the first pitch. Over 2,000 attended in 2007, too. See Team DC for info and tickets. Washington Blade (June 20, 2008): More than 2,000 fans expected for gay baseball event. Pics from 2007 event. Article and pics (PDF) from Washington Blade (2007).
|
|
Out at the Park - San Diego Pride Night
Date: Friday July 11, 2008 - Padres vs. Braves Celebrate LGBT Pride while enjoying a night of fun, baseball, and recognition for volunteers, friends and allies of the San Diego LGBT community. San Diego GALA Choruses of San Diego who will sing the National Anthem. See www.padres.com/pride for event info and discounted tickets. Enter promo code: PRIDE. |
|
LGBT Night Out
Date: Friday July 25, 2008 - Giants vs. D'backs "...this special ticket package includes a seat in the LGBT Night section as well as a pre-game party and free drink of your choice!" See www.sfgiants.com/specialevents for event info and tickets. |
|
Out at the Ballgame
Date: Sunday July 27, 2008 - Cubs vs. Marlins Beginning in 2001, "Out at the Ballgame" at Wrigley Field is the longest-running "gay day" with a MLB team. See Chicago Free Press for info and tickets. |
|
6th Annual Gay Community Night at the Phillies
Date: Tuesday August 19, 2008 - Phillies vs. Nationals Join the LGBT community at Citizens Bank Park for a night of fun and baseball. For info and to order tickets, see PhillyGayDays.com. Get the official T-shirt. |
| 2008 Other Events | |
|
Pride in the Park
The Long Beach Armada will host Pride in the Park night on Saturday July 12, 2008. Click on flyer for details. |
| Past Events | |
|
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. |
|
Gay Games Night
Gay Games Night took place on Friday July 21, 2006, during the Chicago Gay Games. |
|
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. |
|
Equality Night
Eqality Night benefitted Equality Florida on Saturday April 22, 2006. St. Petersburg Times article: Event organizers shooting high with annual event. |
|
Gay and Lesbian Night at Dodger Stadium
On Wednesday September 6, 2000, GLAAD and the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center co-hosted an LGBT night at Dodger's Stadium attended by 450 community supporters. |
|
Out @ the Ballgame
Monday September 13, 2004 was Out @ the Ballgame night at Shea Stadium. |
|
Out at the Ball Park
Saturday August 14, 2004 was the date of Out at the Ball Game with the Oakland A's. Event organized by East Bay Voice. |
|
Pride Night
Saturday June 10, 2006. The Palm Springs Power of the Pacific SouthWest Baseball League donated $1/2 for every ticket sold to the Desert Pride Center. |
|
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. |
|
Toronto Blue Jays Pride Night
The 3rd Toronto Blue Jays Pride Night was 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. |
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. Additionally, teams such as the San Francisco Giants, Florida Marlins and Baltimore Orioles, have hosted AIDS Awareness Days which raised money for AIDS organizations.
As well, minor league teams have hosted events, such as the Dunedin Blue Jays Equality Night and the Palm Springs Power Pride Night. Teams in other sports have also hosted events, such as the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer and the Milwaukee Wave of the Indoor Soccer League.
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 and anti-gay slurs are still around. See Outsports.com's anti-gay slurs list.
Encouragingly, though, some players have acknowledged that there are likely gay players and, in a 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, 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 a gay former NFL player • The Front Runner, Patricia Nell Warren's ground-breaking novel about a gay coach and athlete • The Outsports Revolution is a great overview and introduction to gays and sports • 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. A 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: help@gaybaseballdays.com
Copyright. Site content & design by Mark Kari.
Gay Days pics:
The Gay Men's Chorus of Washington D.C.perform the national anthem, 2007. 
The second Night out with the Nationals, 2006. 
Fans at the first Night Out with the Nationals, July '05. Photo Rudy K. Lawidjaja/Washington Blade 
Cubs fans in July '05. Photo by Jason Smith/Chicago Free Press. 
Philly Phanatic and Philadelphia Gay Men's Chorus, and Phillies fans in August '05. Photos by Heddy Bergsman and Jim Peary from phillygaydays.com 
Scott Thompson throws out the first pitch in Toronto, June '05. 
A rainbow of fans in Toronto, June '04. Photo www.thesportsroadtrip.com |
BREAKFAST WITH SCOT
In this heart-warming family comedy, a gay sportscaster finds himself and his partner the guardians of a flamboyant 11-year old boy named Scot. The first gay-themed movie to receive NHL approval. DVD released in Canada March 2008. US theatrical release in October 2008. US website Canadian website |
TAKE ME OUT, the 2003 Tony Award-winning best play by Richard Greenberg about a gay baseball player, has been produced at theatres across the U.S., Canada, England and Australia. Some recent and upcoming productions:
Pittsburgh, PA: barebones productions
Worchester, MA: Foothills Theatre Company
|
|
GAY SPORTS MESSAGE BOARDS:
The Veteran: Outsports The Rookie: eQSpn GAY SPORTS EVENTS LISTS:
|
