Diamondbacks Pride Night inspires LGBTQ community

PHOENIX – Dale Scott broke into Major League Baseball as an umpire the same year he met his partner of 40 years. In 1986, no one in the league knew that his partner was a man. 

Scott made history in 2014 when he came out as the first gay male sporting official in the big four North American pro leagues. 

“All the umpires already knew,” Scott said. “The front office, the people that sign my checks, they all knew about me. So it wasn’t a shock to them, right? But it was news to the media, to the teams, to the fans. But they’ve been nothing but supportive.”

The Diamondbacks invited Scott to throw out the ceremonial first pitch before a game against the Washington Nationals on June 5. The pitch was part of an evening of Pride celebrations. 

During his career, Scott, who retired in 2017, umpired 3,897 regular season major league games and was one of the umpires when the Diamondbacks won Game 7 of the 2001 World Series.

Friday marked the Diamondbacks’ ninth annual Pride Night. It’s increasingly common for major sports teams to offer a special event night centered around LGBTQ+ pride.

Theme nights are used to increase single-game ticket sales by appealing to specific groups of people that would be willing to make a one-time game purchase. 

The only team without a Pride Night celebration in the 2026 season is the Texas Rangers.

“Sometimes it’s two steps forward, one step back,” Scott said, “but we have to keep persevering as a community and sometimes you have setbacks politically. Sometimes you have it in other ways. We just keep going forward.” 

Many believed the NHL took a step backward in 2023 when the league banned special warm-up jerseys after players didn’t like the expectation of wearing pride jerseys. Some players cited moral and religious reasons, while Russian players worried about their safety because of laws banning the promotion of LGBTQ+ ideas in their home country. 

During the 2025-2026 season, the Boston Bruins, Carolina Hurricanes, Los Angeles Kings and Utah Mammoth did not host pride nights. 

In the NBA, the Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat, New Orleans Pelicans, Oklahoma City Thunder, Toronto Raptors and Utah Jazz did not host Pride Night celebrations in the 2025-2026 season.

On June 5 in Phoenix, Scott was joined by a fellow gay sports official, the NBA’s Bill Kennedy.

“I’m such a fan of Dale Scott,” Kennedy said, “and such an admirer of him and the way that he inspires not only myself, but he inspires other people and what he does and how he goes about his life.”

Kennedy has been an NBA referee for 26 seasons, and is a 2026 LGBTQ Sports Hall of Fame inductee. He came out in 2015, one year after Scott. 

“He was an inspiration for me in terms of being able to make that transition and to make that leap of faith,” Kennedy said. 

Before Scott’s first pitch, fans who purchased the Pride Night package were led on a rainbow walk on the field through the outfield. A long line proceeded to paint a colorful scene of pride jerseys, flags and signs. 

Not every fan was there for Pride Night. A pair of friends in Blue Jays jerseys were on a bachelor trip from Saskatchewan and wanted to spend the night at a baseball game. 

Pride Night did draw new fans to the sport. Catherine Mallek brought Christopher Cooper, 27, to his first Diamondbacks game. 

“Pride Night brought us here,” Mallek said. “So we love the inclusivity because without it, we would not be here.” 

“My friends have made me like sports,” Cooper added, “This is my second Pride Night that I’ve been to and I do not watch live sports.”

By the top of the fourth inning, the Diamondbacks were down 6-0 against the Nationals, but distractions were available. Fans wandering the stadium could find signs for the tailgate located behind Section 135 where they were offered the chance to “Play Catch With a Dad.”

Play Catch With a Dad was started in 2019. John Piermatteo took inspiration from the nonprofit Free Mom Hugs, a national organization that began with a mom wanting to provide love and support for the LGBTQ+ communities by offering free hugs at the Oklahoma City Pride Festival in 2015.

James Walter is one of the dads that throws a foam football with visitors. He punctuates the back-and-forth with words of encouragement, complimenting throws or cheering for a catch. 

“A lot of members of the community don’t have a real strong parental figure,” Walter said. “Maybe they’re no longer with them, maybe they just no longer speak, but we wanted to show that there are dads out there to do some work for those members, and just a simple act of playing catch really means a lot to some of them.” 

Walter said PCWAD will attend 14 ballparks this summer for Pride Night celebrations. 

“We’re just out interacting,” Walter said, “really trying to reach people that might have that little bit of pain in their heart. Hopefully, we can relieve it a little bit for a little bit of time with a simple game of playing catch.”

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