A professional sports team held an LGBTQ Pride night, complete with the team’s logo in rainbow colors, had a drag queen throw out the first pitch, had all the players participate and it went off without a hitch. Take a bow, San Francisco Giants.
The Giants-Chicago Cubs game on Saturday also featured the bases done up with Pride colors and a cool uniform giveaway that had a huge line waiting to snag one.
After all the controversy over Pride Nights in the NHL earlier in the year and recently in Major League Baseball, Saturday’s event held by the Giants was refreshing.
“I think everyone feels like this is the right thing to do and that it’s just as important as any other day we represent, whether it be Armed Forces or Memorial or Veterans or any of the other groups that we celebrate and try to amplify,” Giants outfielder Austin Slater said about the team participating in Pride Night. “This is another of the many important groups that we’re able to hopefully support and welcome into the baseball family.”
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RT to spread the 🌈 L O V E 🌈 and to enter for a chance to win today’s #SFGiants Pride Celebration Jersey and an official Giants Pride Cap 🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈 pic.twitter.com/0vpYu2CD5z
— SFGiants (@SFGiants) June 10, 2023
Slater was backed up by Gabe Kapler, his manager, who told the San Francisco Chronicle: “It’s just an indication of how devoted our community in San Francisco is to accepting people from everywhere, all walks of life, and in particular the LGBTQ+ community. And it gives us an opportunity to stand strongly behind that community, and really proud that our organization has continued to be at the forefront of that movement.”
This is what happens when an organization has a vision of inclusiveness, executes it with total buy-in and no apologies. The Giants may have lost the game, but won the night.
Here are some more photos of the Giants’ Pride event:
