The New York Mets went all out for Pride Night 2025, and homophobes are – predictably – furious
New York Mets fans have praised the iconic baseball team’s celebration of Pride Month, flying the Progress Pride flag during the national anthem and spotlighting a gay kiss on the jumbotron.
On Friday (13 June), the Major League Baseball (MLB) game between the Mets and the Tampa Bay Rays became a showcase of LGBTQ+ acceptance and joy, marking the Mets’ ninth annual Pride Night celebration.
As per the Mets website, Pride Night is “one night each year when Citi Field swaps blue and orange for the entire rainbow!”
Despite losing the game (9-0), the Mets pleased many fans with their full volume support of LGBTQ+ rights.
A couple of teams also have Pride Month traditions, for instance, the Los Angeles Dodgers players wore baseball caps with the Pride flag coloursincorporated, and the Boston Red Sox held a pre-game drag show.
Ahead of the Mets game, Season 12 of RuPaul’s Drag Race and Season 6 ofRuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars Jan Sport held a pre-game warm-up Pride Party.
The festivities featured DJs, in-game entertainment, Mets Pride merchandise and themed cocktails. Furthermore, the first 15,000 fans received an exclusive Mets Pride tank top.
Ahead of the game a number of players were also seen wearing tank tops with “New York is love” on their chests in rainbow font.
For ticketing, the Mets partnered with NYC Pride on a special ticket offer. NYC Pride tickets included a limited-edition Pride Night fanny pack with a portion of the proceeds from each ticket donated directly to NYC Pride initiatives.
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The MLB game began, as usual, with the US national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner,” playing loudly in the baseball stadium, but instead of the US flag, the Progress Pride flag was displayed in its place.
“I’m converting to Mets fandom”
One fan reacted to the flag’s appearance by saying they’re planning to switch allegiance: “You guys I’m converting to Mets fandom bc they showed the pride flag instead of the american flag during the anthem.”
The introduction of players on the big screen included a rainbow background: a special Pride Month feature.
Later, as the jumbotron surveyed the crowd, the camera stopped for a gay kiss as Chappell Roan’s ‘”Pink Pony Club” played – it couldn’t have been a more iconic moment.
Pete Alonso, a prominent player and the Mets’ first baseman, also changed his walk up song to “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen, especially for Pride Night.
Unsurprisingly, there was also quite a bit of homophobic backlash to the Pride Night baseball game (what did the homophobes expect from Pride Night?!). Some angry right-wing fans even went so far as to blame the “woke sickness” of Pride for causing the team’s defeat.
However, despite this negativity, many fans shared that they had a wonderful evening, which was topped off with Wicked-themed fireworks, and also rainbow fireworks.
One fan shared: “even though the mets lost i had the absolute best time at pride night. i was too drunk to post anything last night so enjoy!”
“Amazin’ [Mets]Pride Night at Citi Field!” Another fan posted. “Rainbows, joy, and good baseball filled the night.”
“It all started 10 years ago with a call, a vision, and a partnership between [The LGBT Network], [the MLB] and the late Billy Bean.
“Here’s to more years of [Mets] Pride!”