The Los Angeles Dodgers will host their seventh annual LGBT Night at Dodger Stadium May 31 in a game against the Philadelphia Phillies, the team announced today. Photo: Los Angeles Dodgers.
ELYSIAN PARK — The Los Angeles Dodgers will host their seventh annual LGBT Night at Dodger Stadium May 31 in a game against the Philadelphia Phillies, the team announced today.
The event also will be the official 2019 LA Pride kickoff party. LA Pride will take place from June 7 to 9 in West Hollywood.
Preceding the Dodger-Phillies game, a kickoff party will take place from 5:30 to 7:10 p.m. in the Right Field Plaza Bar.
Everyone purchasing a specific Dodger LGBT Night ticket will receive a Dodgers LGBT-themed duffle bag. Tickets range from $34 to $145.
Historic ticket sales
The Dodgers have come a long way in embracing their LGBTQ fans. For example, a lesbian couple was kicked out of Dodgers Stadium in August 2000 for kissing.
Last year, the Dodgers’ LGBT Night was the most attended Pride Night in sports history, selling about 8,000 tickets.
Glenn Burke, baseball’s first openly gay player, helped create high five
Billie Jean King
Dodger owner and former tennis great Billie Jean King will throw out the ceremonial first pitch. Life Magazine named King one of the “100 Most Important Americans of the 20th Century.” In 2009, President Barack Obama awarded king the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, in recognition of her work on and off the court, which includes her activism for gender equality and LGBTQ rights.
One of the greatest
King is considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time. She won 39 Grand Slam titles, including a record 20 Wimbledon championships. King may be best known for defeating Bobby Riggs, 55, in one of the greatest moments in sports history, the “Battle of the Sexes,” which took place Sept. 20, 1973. At the time, King was 29 years old.
The Los Angeles LGBT Center will be recognized during pregame ceremonies with a Dodgers Community Hero Award.
