Yankees LGBTQ+ Issues

When the New York Mets premiered their first LGBTQ+ Pride Night in August 2016, a spectacle unfolded within the stadium. Spectators waved rainbow banners, the Lesbian and Gay Big Apple Corps Marching Band performed, Citi Field's giant Coca-Cola sign illuminated in rainbow hues, and the game's kiss cam captured several same-sex embraces. Tradition dictated honoring a veteran; consequently, the Mets acknowledged a gay Army veteran during that inaugural Pride Night.

However, the Mets' rivals, the New York Yankees, continue to lag behind, having yet to organize a Pride Night. In fact, the Yankees stand alone amongst Major League Baseball's thirty teams, devoid of any such event or planned celebration.

The Los Angeles Angels' announcement earlier this week of their LGBTQ+ themed night in June 2019 highlighted the Yankees' isolated position as the sole holdout team.

'It's challenging to reconcile oneself with being the sole Major League Baseball team without a Pride Night,' stated David Kilmnick, Chief Executive Officer of the LGBT Network, a New York-based non-profit organization.

Kilmnick, the individual who first proposed the concept of Pride Night to the Mets, also attempted similar dialogue with the Yankees at the 2016 MLB Diversity Business Summit. Despite being a lifelong Mets enthusiast, Kilmnick felt promoting all New York teams' support for the LGBTQ+ community was paramount.

Kilmnick explained that, despite his efforts, the Yankees expressed little interest in the proposal. The discussion with Yankees representatives was apparently unproductive and short-lived.

'Regrettably, a team representing one of the nation's most diverse and significant metropolises avoids celebrating a Pride Night to welcome its LGBTQ+ fanbase,' Kilmnick emphasized.

Importantly, the Yankees' avoidance of Pride Night is symptomatic of a broader aversion to promotions with cultural undertones. This observation was recently articulated in The New York Times.

While outwardly the team seems to avoid public displays of support for the LGBTQ+ community, Yankees spokesman Jason Zillo affirmed in a recent New York Times interview that the team clandestinely fosters LGBTQ+ inclusivity, highlighting the efforts of the team's general manager and assistant general manager to collaborate with youth-oriented LGBTQ+ support organizations.

Brian Kitts, cofounder of the You Can Play organization, specializing in LGBTQ+ inclusion in sports, cautions against unwarranted assumptions regarding the Yankees.

'Easily, one can misinterpret a Pride Night as a superficial gesture,' Kitts advised in a recent NBC News interview, 'Often such events serve as superficial milestones.'

Advocates for baseball Pride Nights contend that these events promote inclusivity, both in and beyond the playing field.

Recent instances of homophobic chants and slurs within baseball stadiums have unfortunately drawn considerable attention. In 2010, for example, Yankee fans were captured on camera singing a homophobic rendition of 'YMCA' (renamed as "Y.R.U.Gay?"), even though a Yankees spokesperson stated that the lyrics were unacceptable.

'Modern times still permit banning individuals for racial slurs at sporting events,' commented Kitts, 'However, security personnel often overlook homophobic slurs, conveying to fans a tacit acceptance of homophobia. This is concerning, and creates an incongruous message where using slurs against one group of fans is acceptable, while it is not in the case of another. The message must be unified, across every group.'

Kilmnick noted that the Mets' Pride Nights have helped raise awareness and improved the environment within the stadium.

'All of us should collaborate to ensure more welcoming ballparks for all fans, removing the fear of harassment during sporting events,' Kilmnick concluded.

FOLLOW NBC OUTON TWITTER, FACEBOOKAND INSTAGRAM