Paul and Oliver Lumos. KNBR
Heather Harrison had not been at Oracle Park since 2019. No fan stepped foot inside last year, when the pandemic kept them out, and she had not gotten a chance through the first two months of this season.
She was not going to miss Saturday.
“It’s gay day. All these f–king right-wing a–holes are going to be like, ‘What a bunch of pussies,’” Harrison, who is a lesbian and wore a Pride shirt outside the park as she waited to meet up with friends, said with a laugh. “I believe that the Giants doing this are being inclusionary and just bringing people in.”
It is one thing to celebrate the LGBTQI+ community, which plenty of Major League Baseball clubs do. It is another to offer the sort of representation that the Giants displayed Saturday, when they became the first MLB team to incorporate Pride colors — a rainbow “SF” logo on their hats and a Pride stripe on the right sleeve of their jerseys — in their uniform.
Paul Lumos bought tickets specifically for him and his son, Oliver, who is a transgender male. They are from San Jose and were ready for the celebration that they were about not just to witness, but take part in.
“It means a lot to me because, as members of LGBTQI+, we don’t usually get a lot of acceptance and/or recognition,” said Oliver, who was wrapped in a rainbow flag.
“I think that with the Giants being on-field with the special uniforms — it kind of shows acceptance, and that’ll help spread tolerance,” Paul said.
Before the game, Transgender and Progress flags were lifted and added to those blowing in right field. Drag performer and singer Honey Mahogany sang the national anthem, and the party was on.
The stands, which are not yet at full capacity, were as full as any game this season and easily more colorful than any. There were plans to honor Tom Ammiano, a gay rights activist and friend of Harrison’s.
Major League Baseball is not known for its diversity, but the Giants want to be. In their dugout is the first woman full-time coach in baseball in Alyssa Nakken. Manager Gabe Kapler started a nonprofit — Pipeline for Change — that aims to “provide resources and remove obstacles for BIPOC, women, non-binary people and members of the LGBTQ+ community to participate in all aspects of collegiate and professional sports.”
“Because the team is showing you they support that, I think it’s really important,” Oliver Lumos said, “because those people in the crowd might learn a thing or two.”
