By David Grant
You probably never envisioned a future in which “Gay Pride” and “Major League Baseball” could comfortably fit into the same sentence, and yet here we are.
Last Friday, the Red Sox competed with the Detroit Tigers at Boston’s Fenway Park, and during the game, Pride was celebrated in a number of ways. At the kickoff event for Boston’s Pride weekend, game attendees were given Red Sox Pride flags, and the pitcher’s mound was painted in rainbow colors to commemorate the occasion.
The Red Sox hailed the event as “the perfect way to celebrate equality and community” on their official website.
.@kimbrel46 continues to dominate! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/6wAdfrMHsB
— #VoteRedSox (@RedSox) June 10, 2017
#PrideNight pic.twitter.com/WxoCy5dHcI
— Fenway Park (@fenwaypark) June 9, 2017
Billy Bean, the Tigers outfielder turned Major League’s Baseball’s very first “inclusion officer,” attended the event alongside Boston Pride Parade committee officials and Gay Bowl XVII members.
As NewNowNext reports, there are only thirteen Major League Baseball teams that acknowledge Pride with their own LGBTQ Pride Nights, but there’s every reason to expect that others will catch on in the years to come.
So, even though our current administration is deliberately ignoring the fact that it’s Pride Month — in lieu of hailing June as “National Homeownership Month,” “African-American Music Appreciation Month,” “National Caribbean-Ameriacn Heritage Month,” “National Ocean Month,” and “Great Outdoors Month” — at least there’s solace in knowing that The Sox’s mascot Wally the Green Monster attended Boston Pride, where he seemed particularly enchanted by rainbow-hued ticker tape:
Ready for the #PrideParade! pic.twitter.com/Fen1vcOjK1
— Wally (@Wally97) June 10, 2017
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This article originally appeared on Queerty
Photo credit: Getty Images