Dodgers honor group during Pride Night despite protests outside ballpark

The Dodgers' 10th annual LGBTQ+ Pride Night on Friday was an "odd mixture of empowerment and caution” as a four-minute ceremony honoring the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence activist organization was the "culmination of three weeks of controversy,” according to Bill Plaschke of the L.A. TIMES. The ceremony occurred "an hour before" the Dodgers hosted the Giants which was “much earlier than the Dodgers normally hold their pregame events.” The Dodgers claimed that it was due to “safety reasons,” and there were "extra police lining the stands” during the ceremony. Outside Dodger Stadium, “several thousand were protesting" the Sisters' "existence.” But the ceremony was a “compelling start to Pride Night," and the fans who came out for it also “seemed all in, overcoming their initial distaste over the Dodgers dis-invitation to support them for making the right decision" (L.A. TIMES, 6/16). In L.A., Campa, Gupta, Valenzuela & Vives noted Friday’s game attendance was 49,074. Previous Pride nights at Dodger Stadium have “boasted both larger and smaller crowds." Dodger Stadium's main entrance was “briefly shut down Friday afternoon” prior to the game by the protest. Helicopters “hovered above as demonstrators, most of them wearing red shirts, gathered in the parking lot" for the protest organized in part by Catholics for Catholics (L.A. TIMES, 6/16). In S.F., Susan Slusser noted LAPD and Dodgers security personnel estimated that the protester "numbered about 2,000,” and there was a “much larger police presence than usual." Both the Giants and Dodgers “wore Pride caps and patches without any refusals” (S.F. CHRONICLE, 6/16).