Sports
Everyone out for the ballgame
Washington Nationals host LGBT fans for 6th annual Night OUT
The Washington Nationals will host local LGBT fans for the 6th annual Night OUT on Tuesday, June 22 at 7:05 p.m.
Since 2005, Team DC has worked to create a night for the LGBT community to get together and cheer on the home team.
“It’s not just about visibility of our community,” said Brent Minor, president of Team DC.
Minor continued that Night OUT is a way to get people who normally don’t watch sports out with other members of the LGBT community.
In its first year, Night OUT brought more than 1,000 fans to RFK stadium.
“When we started the event, it was the first year the Nationals were in Washington,” said Minor. “We thought we’d only have about 300 people but we had 1,100.”
The event moved to Nationals Stadium along with the team and according to its website, Team DC is hoping to have 3,000 fans in attendance this year.
“We have over 2,300 people in our sections,” Minor said on Monday evening. “It’s already gonna top last year.
The Gay Men’s Chorus will start the night out as they have in past years singing the National Anthem. Council member Jim Graham will announce, “Play ball.”
DC Different Drummers will also be performing prior to the game on the Centerfield Plaza near the Night OUT seating as people come into the stadium.
“I think everybody is extremely excited,” said Zachary Parker, director of the Drummers. “It’s wonderful that [Team DC] is taking the initiative to include other GLBT organizations.”
The Drummers have been working with the Nationals entertainment organizers in preparation for this event. This will be their first appearance at Night OUT. Their performance will include some audience favorites from Pride.
“We’re all very honored,” said Parker.
Throwing out the ceremonial first pitch will be Revs. Darlene Garner and Candy Holmes, one of the first same-sex couples to get married in D.C.
“We are very excited to be part of Night OUT with the Nationals. We are delighted to support our team and to see a great game,” Garner and Holmes said in a statement to the Blade. “And mostly, we are honored to stand proudly as representatives of the entire proud LGBT community.”
Minor said the decision to invite Garner and Holmes was a way to recognize the legalization of same-sex marriage in Washington.
There will also be recognition of event organizers and distinguished members of the LGBT community on the field before the game starts.
On Sunday, Nellie’s Sports Bar will be hosting a Beer Bust from 6-8 p.m. to celebrate the upcoming game. Team DC will raffle off tickets to games later in the season.
Nellie’s will also be hosting the 10th Inning Post-Game Party starting as soon as the game ends. Nellie’s and the Washington Blade are official sponsors of the event.
As of Monday, the Nationals were last in the National League East with a 31-33 record, six games behind the division leaders, the Atlanta Braves. Their record at home was 18-12. They will face the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday.
The Nationals have recently become one of the most talked about teams with the addition of their new pitcher, Stephen Strasburg, who after only two starts, has already racked up 22 strike-outs, 19 of which came before his first career walk.
Strasburg was the first overall selection in the 2009 First-Year Player Draft. Debuting in the major leagues on June 8, he became the second player to strike out seven straight batters in an MLB debut, half of his strikeouts that night.
Fans in attendance for Night OUT can get tickets for one of three areas, the scoreboard pavilion, outfield reserved and right field mezzanine. Tuesday is also T-shirt Tuesday at the stadium and the first 10,000 fans will receive a free shirt. Visit nationals.com/nightout to purchase tickets.
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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