Home Game: Night Out at the Nationals is an event that shows the city how diverse our LGBT community truly is

Opinion: Walking around the upper deck of the Nationals stadium on Tuesday night with friends at Team DC's Night out at the Nationals, a few thoughts struck me. First among them, that LGBT people must really love baseball. We were everywhere, thousands of us teeming along the stadium decks; lining up for hotdogs, hamburgers and beer; and cheering from the stands during those (unfortunately too few) moments when the Washington Nationals seemed they might eke out a win against the Tampa Bay Rays. Of course, it may not be as much that each individual LGBT person there was a big baseball fan — I'll admit I'm more of a tennis guy, myself — than the fact that as a community we like being able to gather openly and joyfully in those places we were once traditionally told had no room for us. And if there's any place in American popular culture that's lagging in terms of LGBT visibility, it's professional sports. It's quite wonderful that Major League Baseball teams and other professional sports teams and individual athletes have declared their support for LGBT people and issues — that doesn't negate the fact that virtually all LGBT pro athletes feel the need to remain closeted until safely retired. So events like Night Out at the Nationals are a good way to keep signaling our support to those athletes considering if they can come out and still play. We can't complain about people not coming out if we're not working to make sure they have a supportive environment to come out into. ... (more)

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