Is it time to end hostility towards gays in the pros?
San Francisco Chronicle, June 5, 2005

A few weeks ago, Johnny Damon stood in the visitors' dugout at the Oakland Coliseum and said something that I never expected to hear from a major- league baseball player. "If there's a gay guy in baseball, we have to help him out,'' Damon said, and he had already figured out an easy way to make an out- of-the-closet teammate comfortable. "I'd smack him on the butt, just like I do everybody else.''

Is It Safe To Be OUT?
San Francisco Chronicle, December 12, 2004

A decade ago, the notion of a professional athlete coming out of the closet and declaring himself gay was unthinkable -- especially if he played in the hyper-macho worlds of baseball, football, basketball or hockey. The stakes were too high, the likelihood of shame and dismissal too great.

Today, attitudes have changed so much, says author Eric Anderson, that we're likely to see a major pro athlete coming out soon.

Out and Out at Ballgame: Teams welcoming gay fans
New York Daily News, August 15, 2004

They're here, they're queer - they'll take two beers.

... but many major league teams, including the Mets, are now rolling out the welcome mat for gay and lesbian fans. Half of baseball's 30 franchises have hosted gay-related events at home games since 2001.

"Our job is to make everyone feel welcome," says Kathy Killian, the Phillies' director of group sales. "We open our doors to anybody who wants to buy baseball tickets."

... In other words, baseball is treating gay fans like everyone else.

Baseball and Gay Fans Come Together
Outsports.com, August 3, 2004

In the last three years, no less than a dozen baseball teams have hosted or participated in "gay days" at one of their home games. This year will mark the most gay-themed outings at baseball stadiums in any given season.

Pride Community Day with the Blue Jays
Friday June 25, 2004

Over 600 gay and lesbian fans watched the Toronto Blue Jays defeat the Montreal Expos 3-1 at the SkyDome at the first annual PRIDE COMMUNITY DAY with the BLUE JAYS.

More news and photos of 2004, 2005 and 2006 Blue Jays Pride Nights on Toronto page.

This year's Out at the Ballgame, the fifth annual gay day at Wrigley Field presented by Chicago Free Press/Rainbow Media, put 275 fans on two sun-soaked rooftop decks outside the ballpark and 500 fans in shady upper deck seats along the third baseline.
Chicago Free Press photo gallery - photos by Jason Smith

Out at the Ballgame celebrates America's favorite pastime
Chicago Free Press, August 2004

About 850 people-some as new to the game as Rich and some lifelong devotees of the sport-celebrated America's favorite pastime at Out at the Ballgame, an annual event founded by Chicago Free Press sales rep Bill Gubrud and presented by this newspaper in partnership with community and corporate sponsors.

2,000 Attend 3rd 'Out at the Ballgame'
OutInChicago.com, July 22, 2003

"2,000 people here at the ballpark!" exclaimed Bill Greaves, Mayor Richard M. Daley's liaison to the GLBT community and director of the Chicago Commission on Human Relations' Advisory Council on LGBT Issues. "It's great to see us be able to come out together and have a good time in our hometown."

Out at the Ballgame 2004 photo gallery from Outsports.com.

"It was a great time, it was a lot of fun for everybody," said Larry Felzer, a co-organizer of the event. "We far exceeded our expectations on attendance. We had about 1,500 people there, so we more than doubled last year's attendance. Last year was 730."

Gay Community Day at Phillies
Philly.com, Wednesday August 13, 2003

America's favorite pastime met modern day USA when the Phillies hosted "Gay Community Day" during last night's game against the Milwaukee Brewers. "It wasn't meant to be political. This was envisioned as a night of fun. I love coming to Vet stadium and seeing baseball," said Larry Felzer, chair of Gay and Lesbian Lawyers of Philadelphia.

A Gay Old Time in Philly
Outsports.com, August 13, 2003

On a muggy but thankfully rain-free evening over 750 members of the LGBT community and its supporters-including an Outsports contingent-gathered in the 500 level at Veterans Stadium to watch the Philadelphia Phillies and Milwaukee Brewers in action. The first Gay Community Day with the Phillies was, simply put, a magnificent success.

Gay Community Night with the Phillies - 2004
Ceremonial first pitch thrown by Sue Gildea, commissioner of City of Brotherly Love Softball League. Photos from PhillyGayDays.com

Gay Community Night with the Phillies - 2003
Ceremonial first pitch thrown by Larry Felzer, chair of GALLOP (Gay And Lesbian Lawyers Of Philadelphia).
  

Out at the Mets
New York Blade, September 3, 2004

A sundry of gay organizations and individuals are lining up to take part in the first gay-outreach event at a New York Mets game. The trail-blazing event will take place Monday, Sept. 13, at Shea Stadium in Flushing, Queens.

The event, "Out at the Mets," will be the first official gay-themed event at a professional sporting contest in New York City.

Pittsburgh Pirate Pride Night 2005
Gay & Lesbian Community Center of Pittsburgh website

There were actually 31,000 fans that night at the stadium! OK – most weren't there for Pride Night but there was a nice crowd there in the bleachers representing our Community at the game. Congratulations to Patrick Arena for doing a beautiful job on singing our national anthem that night. Patrick is one of our community members and will be singing at PrideFest as well. Great job, Patrick!

PrideFest 2004
Gay & Lesbian Community Center of Pittsburgh website

PrideFest will run from 12 noon until 6 p.m., but Pride Day will not end there. This great day of activities will be capped off by Pride Day at PNC Park! Come out to watch the Pittsburgh Pirates play the Seattle Mariners. Be sure to wear your Pride t-shirt or any red t-shirt to show your pride. A block of 500 tickets has been reserved, so bring your friends and family members out to wind up a great day of Pride festivities.

PrideFest '04 includes Pirates Game...
PittsburghLive.com, June 17, 2004

Rainbow flags will add color to Saturday's Three Rivers Arts Festival and Bucs game scenes when local gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered Pittsburghers celebrate PrideFest 2004.

The day will be capped off by Pride Day at PNC Park where representatives from the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered community will hurl the ceremonial first pitch, kicking off play between the Pirates and the Seattle Mariners.

PrideSports Boston plans GLBT outing to Fenway Park
Bay Windows (New England gay & lesbian newspaper), August 5, 2004

Like the rest of Boston, the GLBT community has always had its share of die-hard Sox fanatics, and on August 16 about 500 of them will flock to Fenway Park to watch the Sox square off against the Toronto Blue Jays for PrideSports Boston's Out at Fenway Park event.

Complex field for gay sports fans
San Jose Mercury News, Tuesday May 10, 2005

"I was a Giants fan before I was a lesbian," said Ames, 62, of Larkspur. She was one of about 250 fans who took part in the second sold-out Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender singles night at SBC Park on Monday.

Giants raise AIDS awareness
San Francisco Giants official website, Sunday July 11, 2004

In what has become a midseason tradition for the San Francisco Giants, the team through its Giants Community Fund in partnership with SBC/Nortel Networks hosted the 11th annual Until There's a Cure Day.

Until There's a Cure Day has generated more than $1 million to combat HIV/AIDS. Last year, the fund-raiser brought in more than $80,000 through a raffle and sales of AIDS ribbons and T-shirts.

Until There's A Cure Day 2004
Giants Community Fund website, Sunday July 11, 2004

In 1994, the Giants became the first-ever professional sports team to host an AIDS benefit game, Until There's A Cure Day. Since then, the Giants and the Giants Community Fund have repeated the effort, generating more than $750,000 for Bay Area AIDS education and care/service organizations and international AIDS research.

OTHER EVENTS

Gay Night with the Sixers: The NBA's Philadelphia 76ers welcome the Gay & Lesbian community
Outsports.com, November 2004

What is believed to be the first formal LGBT-recognized event with an NBA team will be happening in Philadelphia on Friday, November 5. A block of seats have been reserved for the LGBT community and friends for "OUT at the Sixers" for the Philadelphia 76ers' season opener against the Phoenix Suns. It is expected that the names of a number of LGBT groups will have their names displayed on the scoreboard during the game, including Outsports.com.

From Outsports.com archive
July 25, 2001

Add the Atlanta Braves to a small, but growing list of pro sports teams reaching out to their gay fans. The Braves have agreed to set aside up to 2,000 tickets for the Aug. 8 game at Turner Field against the Houston Astros.

The Los Angeles Dodgers last year honored GLAAD, the gay media watchdog group, while the San Francisco Giants for years have hosted an AIDS awareness day at a game. The Minnesota Twins, in conjunction with OutFront Minnesota and the Human Rights Campaign, have a gay pride event set for a game Sept. 14.

The Sacramento Monarchs of the WNBA drew near a season-high 9,300 fans July 21 for their game against the Detroit Shock. The fact that it was designated Gay Pride Night was no coincidence.

"I'm loving it," Kat Fox of the David Dykes told the Sacramento Bee. "There's more people here than any game I've seen this season, and Detroit is not a draw. There's even a lot of gay guys. That's great!"

The WNBA has been aggressive this year in encouraging its teams to market to lesbians. Other teams making overtures include the Los Angeles Sparks, the Minnesota Lynx, the Phoenix Mercury, the Seattle Storm and Miami Sol.

          [ HOME ]        [ EVENTS ]        [ NEWS ]        [ LINKS ]