Astros’ “Pride in the Park” on July 10 is one of the rare gay events initiated by a MLB team

By Cyd Zeigler

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The Houston Astros are hosting a gay-themed event called "Pride in the Park" during their July 10 game against the St. Louis Cardinals. This is a big deal not just because it's the first time an event like this has happened with the Astros, but maybe even more importantly the team itself was the catalyst for the event!
After members of the Astros front office saw the new MyGayHouston.com site, launched by the Houston Convention & Visitors Bureau, they contacted Trevor Eade about a gay event during an Astros game. Eade, who now serves as co-chair of the event, called the reception of the event “amazing.”
“The Astros have such a great reputation in Houston for being the ‘Good Guys’,” Eade said. “And every event I attend people come up to me, gay or straight, and thank me that the Astros are celebrating Houston’s LGBT community.”
Eade said the Astros have fully embraced the event. Team management attended the “Bunnies on the Bayou” event, a traditional LGBT cocktail fundraiser on Easter Sunday. Eade said more than 500 people stopped by the Astros booth to register to attend. The team is donating part of the ticket sales to Houston-based gay non-profit groups. Houston’s openly lesbian mayor, Annise Parker, will throw out the opening pitch. And the 160 members of the Bayou City Chorale (Gay Men’s Chorus and Bayou City Women’s Chorus) will sing the National Anthem.
With the event still three months away, it’s hard to gauge how many will be in attendance. The event’s Facebook page shows 1,100 confirmed guests and another 1,500 “Maybes.” It remains to be seen how many of those people will actually purchase tickets, but if just half of those do it will be one of the largest gay events ever at a Major League Baseball game.
While other “Gay Days” have usually sat all members of the group together, seats at the Astros event are split across five areas of the ballpark and range in price from $10-$32.

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