Sports
United Night OUT soccer match is July 25
D.C. United to play N.Y. Red Bulls in annual LGBT fan event
United Night Out (Washington Blade photo by Kevin Majoros)
D.C. United fans are invited to come out for another year of soccer and support for the LGBT community.
The eighth annual United Night OUT is Wednesday, July 25 at 6 p.m. at Audi Field (100 Potomac Ave. S.W.). Hosted by Team DC and the Federal Triangles Soccer Club, D.C. United Soccer Club will play the New York Red Bulls.
The annual game is the second largest in Team D.C.’s Night OUT event series after Night OUT with the Nationals.
“It’s a natural fit for the Night OUT series, and it has continued to grow,” says Jim Ensor, chief organizer of the event and co-captain of the Federal Triangles Soccer Club Unicorns.
A portion of ticket sales, which are $30 each, will go toward a non-profit LGBT organization. Some of the money will be used to support the Federal Triangles’ two teams that will be playing at Gay Games 10 in Paris.
“It’s a good fundraiser, it’s social and it’s to support a local team,” he says.
Ensor said that he “felt compelled” to organize a special gay event with D.C. United.
“It’s been my baby from the start. … I’ve been a D.C. United fan since 1996 and I’m part of the LGBT community,” he says.
Ensor says he wanted to help people from Federal Triangles, an LGBT club, feel comfortable going to professional soccer games.
“It’s about getting people who wouldn’t normally go to soccer games out there,” he says.
D.C. United has been supportive personally and publicly. The Night OUT series has also helped the LGBT community gain visibility, Ensor says. Gaining corporate partners for the event was also helpful.
“D.C. United is a reasonably priced, successful club. I wanted it to be a part of the (LGBT) community, which is underserved in general. (Night OUT) is a way to bridge that gap and bring the two together,” he says.
Although some of the special features of the event are still in the works due to the new facility, there will be pregame festivities and discounted ticket prices. The match will only be the second game D.C. United has played on the new field. There will also be a VIP area for groups of 10 or more people.
The game will also feature giveaways and incentives like rainbow scarves. Group leaders with 10 or more guests will receive a 2018 commemorative D.C. United scarf and group leaders with 20 or more guests will receive a replica jersey. Last year, D.C. United players wore rainbow numbers on their uniforms and the team captain’s rainbow armband was sold to raise money.
The Night OUT event has also received support from D.C. United supporter club the Screaming Eagles.
“Through this event, they found that they’ve had LGBT supporters that they didn’t even know about,” Ensor says.
Last year, the event drew 550 people, and was close to 700 people the previous year. Ensor is hoping the new stadium will generate interest.
Tickets can be purchased at ticketmaster.com or Eventbrite.com. The promotional code to purchase tickets via Ticketmaster is “uno.” Ensor says this represents the mantra for the event: one game, one community, united.
“I hope we can all come together, even if it’s for one night, and be uno,” he says.
Iran and Egypt on Friday faced off during the World Cup’s “Pride Match” in Seattle.
Iran is among the handful of countries in which consensual same-sex sexual relations remain punishable by death. Discrimination and persecution based on sexual orientation and gender identity is commonplace in Egypt.
Friday’s match coincided with Pride weekend in Seattle. The Egyptian Football Association and the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran both objected to playing in the “Pride Match.”
Egypt and Iran tied 1-1.
FIFA, for its part, allowed Pride flags inside the stadium during the match.
“The FIFA World Cup 2026 is an inclusive event that welcomes people from all backgrounds,” a FIFA spokesperson told the Washington Blade in a statement. “Fans of all sexual orientations and gender identities are welcome at matches and events. General statements of human rights, including rainbow flags and other flags representing sexual orientation and gender identity, are permitted under the FIFA World Cup 2026™ Stadium Code of Conduct and may be displayed inside stadiums provided they are used in a manner consistent with the code.”
Human Rights Watch welcomed FIFA’s decision to allow Pride flags inside the stadium. Outright International, a global LGBTQ and intersex rights group, distributed Pride flags in Seattle on Friday, which was Pride Match Day.
“Visibility matters,” said Outright International Executive Director Maria Sjödin. “Pride is now being celebrated in more than 100 countries, including this weekend in Seattle. For many LGBTIQ people, seeing a Pride flag in public is a reminder that they are not alone, and that their rights and dignity are recognized.”
FIFA President Gianni Infantino earlier this year told Die Weltwoche, a Swiss magazine, that “there will be no ‘Pride Match’ at the (FIFA) World Cup.”
“There will be a FIFA World Cup match in Seattle, and on the same day, events organized by external organizations will be taking place in the city,” said Infantino. “But that has nothing to do with the match itself.”
Peter Tatchell, a long-time LGBTQ activist from the U.K. who is director of the Peter Tatchell Foundation, was among those who traveled to Seattle for Friday’s match. Tatchell accused FIFA of not vetting World Cup teams — specifically Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Ghana, Senegal, Qatar, Tunisia, Morocco, Iraq, Uzbekistan, and Algeria — over whether they would allow gay players.
“FIFA is protecting LGBT+ visibility in the stands while failing to protect LGBT+ players on the pitch,” said Tatchell.
The Baltimore Orioles will take on the Washington Nationals on Friday, June 26 at 7 p.m. for Pride Night at Oriole Park.
The first 15,000 fans will receive an exclusive Pride Night Orioles jersey. The Washington Blade is a media sponsor of this event.
To purchase tickets, visit Orioles.com/Tickets.
Sports
Minor league team in York, Pa., forfeits Pride Night game after some players refuse to wear special jersey
City is roughly 20 miles north of Md. border
An independent minor league baseball team says it is forfeiting a game because some of its players refused to wear a special Pride Night jersey.
The Atlantic League Pro Baseball’s York Revolution were planning to hold their 11th annual Pride Night event Thursday for a game against the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs.
But the Revolution announced the day of the game that it wouldn’t be played. York is about 20 miles north of the Maryland line. The Blue Crabs play in Waldorf.
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
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