Twenty-three years ago, Dani Goldey and then-girlfriend Meredith Kott were enjoying a game at Dodger Stadium. In the fifth inning, Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Darren Dreifort hit his second home run of the game, sending the crowd into delirium at the unlikely event. Goldey, a lifelong Dodgers fan, and Kott embraced in celebration and kissed.
Shortly thereafter, stadium security personnel arrived. Goldey and Kott were told that another fan had reported them committing a “lewd” act and that, as a result, they had to leave the stadium or face trespassing charges. Escorted by security, Goldey and Kott were marched past friends who happened to be standing near the gates of a place that hours earlier had always felt welcome.
“A group of people were offended by the fact that I am a lesbian,” Goldey said in an email to The Washington Post, “and the Dodgers honored that group by removing me from the stadium.”
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Then-Dodgers president Bob Graziano did not learn about what had happened until the next morning. Even before hearing from Goldey’s attorney, Graziano didn’t need much convincing that the organization needed to apologize. They talked about a settlement and agreed to a public apology, and the team donated 5,000 tickets to three LGBTQ+ groups in the area.
“To be honest with you, people were saying, ‘Why are you doing this?’” Graziano remembered. Some people in the organization even told him that he had been set up, that he was falling for some kind of ploy. “It wasn’t a conversation they were having in professional sports. It felt like we were beginning to chart new waters on this. I wasn’t sure if I was making the right decision or not, but I went with my heart. I felt we treated these two women inappropriately.”
That act of contrition was the first concerted outreach by any Major League Baseball team to gay fans, predating the Chicago Cubs’ early iterations of Out at Wrigley by a year. Nearly a quarter-century later, the incident and its aftermath feel illustrative of the sport’s lurching attempts at outreach. As Pride Month is acknowledged in various ways nationwide, every MLB team except the Texas Rangers will host a Pride night at a home game this month. But some of those events have stirred controversy, and the Dodgers organization again found itself embroiled in one of them.
Facing criticism from some Catholic groups and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), the Dodgers announced they were revoking their intent to honor a group called the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence (a group that includes men who dress as nuns) for its work in Los Angeles’s queer community. Then, the team reversed course again, reinviting the group to its June 16 Pride Night.
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The episode resonated inside some clubhouses, where the change has felt slower than outside. Future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw admitted he hastened his announcement of the Dodgers’ Faith night later this month when he heard the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence were coming to Pride night, though he insisted in an interview with the Los Angeles Times that he did so to stand up for what he believed in, not to render anyone else unwelcome. And Washington Nationals starter Trevor Williams, who has never pitched for the Dodgers, released a statement scolding the team for honoring a group that he argued ridiculed Catholics.
No major league player has come out publicly while still active, and some players have claimed religious opposition to Pride night apparel or events. Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Jeffrey Springs, for example, refused to wear Pride colors last year. Earlier this season, then-Toronto Blue Jays reliever Anthony Bass shared social media posts that encouraged boycotts of companies that take the “demonic” step of offering LGBTQ-centered merchandise.
Bass subsequently apologized for any hurt caused by his actions, and the Blue Jays curiously chose him to catch the ceremonial first pitch before the team’s Pride night — only to release him hours before the game, a move General Manager Ross Atkins called “a baseball decision” of which “distraction was a small part.”
However, anecdotal evidence suggests attitudes among players may be shifting. Rays infielder Yandy Díaz, Springs’s teammate now and then, wore a rainbow wristband all weekend. When the Blue Jays asked Toronto starter Kevin Gausman to catch the ceremonial first pitch after Bass’s release, he embraced the opportunity.
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“Essentially they just came to me and said, ‘Hey, you were our first thought,’ and I was like, ‘Yeah, absolutely.’ I didn’t really have to think twice about it. For me, it was just an opportunity to be part of a cool weekend,” Gausman told MLB.com. “I hope everybody can feel safe at the ballpark and feel like they can come out here and support us. And we’re going to do the same.”
This year, Chicago White Sox minor leaguer Anderson Comás came out on social media. At the beginning of Pride Month, he spoke to reporters.
“I was really afraid for people to know that for me,” said Comás, wearing a shirt that said “human” in pride colors. “Right now, I think it’s getting a lot better. I think that’s why I decided to do it. Now, it’s 2023. People are changing.”
Comás said some of his teammates and coaches already knew. He said nothing changed when he came out publicly, at least not in the organization. At times in recent baseball history, the idea of a gay player finding that kind of comfort in a major league organization was unthinkable.
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“It’s still a little bit hard for us to be out there visible in the public area because of people’s judgment and all that. Just because they think different and they don’t understand things,” said Comás, who said he received around a thousand messages from people who do not yet feel like they can be open but felt better seeing him come out. As for the hateful messages, he said he doesn’t see a point in reading them.
As an organization, MLB leaves teams to make their own decisions on hosting Pride activities and holding individual players accountable, though it has taken stances on social justice issues. In 2021, after Georgia implemented laws that activists said curbed voting rights for minority citizens, MLB pulled the All-Star Game from Atlanta. Next year, the All-Star Game will be at Globe Life Field, home of the Rangers — the one franchise in baseball that has not instituted a Pride night.
“Our commitment is to make everyone feel welcome and included in Rangers baseball. That means in our ballpark, at every game, and in all we do — for both our fans and our employees,” the Rangers said in a statement, adding that they were a sponsor of the Gay Softball World Series and work with several groups in the Dallas-area community to foster inclusion. “We deliver on that promise across our many programs to have a positive impact across our entire community.”
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Goldey admitted that when she heard of the Dodgers’ initial decision to exclude the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, she contemplated pulling her plans to attend the Pride night with the group of fans she had organized.
“I held on to the hope that they would acknowledge their misstep, for the Dodgers embody the diverse tapestry that is Los Angeles. They represent an organization composed of individuals from various walks of life, inherently susceptible to making mistakes,” Goldey wrote to The Post. “My fervent wish is that they strive to learn from these errors and prevent their recurrence.”
As they did to Goldey and Kott, the Dodgers offered “their sincerest apologies” to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and invited them back. Goldey will also be there Friday — not just despite that August night two decades ago but because of it.
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“I felt marginalized, degraded, confused, angry and really disappointed. It was surreal,” Goldey remembered.
“Pride Night stands as a critical cornerstone that some individuals seem to have overlooked amidst the noise. It serves a paramount purpose: to extend unwavering support to the LGTBQ community,” she wrote. “It serves as a powerful declaration that the Dodgers and their fans embrace the concept of inclusivity and stand by every individual. It signifies that all are welcome.”
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