Gay Night With The Padres

July will be a busy month at Petco Park, with the Padres hosting special days for Episcopalians, children in summer camps, knitters and people of Jewish heritage. But it is Pride Night, a July 8 event for gays and lesbians, that is causing a stir.
An El Cajon-based Christian ministry is protesting the confluence of Pride Night with a floppy cap giveaway for children 14 and younger, saying the Padres are welcoming thousands of youngsters on the same day they're celebrating a lifestyle that the religious group calls sinful.
Set Free Ministries will make its point by walking out on the 42 concession jobs its participants fill. The recovery program run by Southern Baptist missionaries also plans to pass out fliers about Pride Night to families entering Petco Park that day.
“We're concerned about Christian parents and other parents who do not want to have to answer at a ballgame why 'Adam and Steve' are doing what they are doing,” said Pastor J.D. Loveland, development director.
San Diego Pride is promoting the night as “Out in Petco Park” and the Gay Men's Chorus of San Diego will perform the national anthem before the game, which will be shown on ESPN.
San Diego Pride's response to the hubbub: It's people enjoying a game together, not a drag show.
“We're going to be wearing ball caps and jerseys. That's the extent of the lifestyle they will be seeing,” Pride Executive Director Ron deHarte said.
The Padres will play the Braves that night, and Atlanta last year was the first major league club to host a “Faith Night,” which drew criticism from those who thought religion shouldn't be injected into a secular event.
Other teams have followed, inviting Christian bands to rock the outfield after games and players to testify about their faith. (The Padres have never had a Faith Night, which some say might explain why they're the worst-hitting club in the National League.)
A Padres spokesman said the team welcomes all fans – gay, religious, butcher, baker or candlestick maker – in the name of boosting attendance. The team hosts more than 5,000 groups for special events each season. Others in recent memory: Harley-Davidson Night and Bowling League Night.
“It's simply a group sale. A lot of people are taking and running with it under the misconception that we're taking a political stand and endorsing a lifestyle or a set of values,” said George Stieren, Padres director of business public relations.
“We're in the business of selling tickets,” he said. “We're an inclusive organization because we have to be. We have 81 home games.”
Set Free Ministries says it will pay a price for its protest.
The nonprofit group's work at Petco Park is a fundraiser. Set Free Ministries supplies the volunteers, and the team gives it a cut of the concessions money.
By walking out, the ministry will forgo $1,680 – less than 5 percent of its monthly budget, Loveland said. And the Padres could fine them up to $4,200 for the no-show, he said. (The Padres say a fine is unlikely.)
“This was a very difficult decision when it comes to (finances),” Loveland said. “We do not get government funding. We finance our ministry ourselves.”
Set Free Ministries runs religious-based addiction-recovery centers and transitional housing for the homeless. After clients have completed a few months of recovery, they volunteer at Petco Park concessions.
Loveland said Set Free Ministries wouldn't have a problem with Pride Night if it didn't coincide with the floppy cap promotion.
“We have absolutely no hard feelings with the gays and lesbians, the Padres or anybody,” Loveland said. “It's just that it happened and it shouldn't have happened.”
Union Bank of California is a sponsor of the promotion. A bank spokeswoman said her company did not know about Pride Night when it agreed to the sponsorship, but she wouldn't say whether the bank objects to the coincidence.
Meanwhile, deHarte said San Diego Pride has received “hate letters” from anti-gay groups about the group's presence at Petco Park.
Even though the Padres have hosted other gay organizations, deHarte attributes the attention to San Diego Pride's visibility. Two weeks after Pride Night, the group will host the annual Pride Parade, which typically draws about 150,000 people.
“More of the anti-gay protesters will cling to it because it's the Pride organization. It gets them more exposure,” he said.
from The San Diego Union-Tribune