The Los Angeles Dodgers will hold their fifth annual LGBT Night Friday, including hosting the official 2017 LA Pride kickoff party at Dodger Stadium for the first time.
The Dodger Stadium celebration will be held around the same time as the first night of the LA Pride festivities in West Hollywood.
The party will be held from 5:30-7:10 p.m. in the Right Field Plaza.
Ceremonial first pitches before the game against the Cincinnati Reds will be thrown by the Emmy-nominated actor Matt Bomer and Brian Pendleton, founder of Sunday’s #ResistMarch.
Bomer is best known for his starring role in the 2009-14 USA Network crime drama “White Collar.” He received an outstanding supporting actor in a miniseries or movie Emmy nomination in 2014 for his role in HBO’s “The Normal Heart.”
The national anthem will be performed by Dot-Marie Jones, a three-time Emmy nominee for her portrayal of Coach Beiste on the 2009-15 Fox musical “Glee.” She will be accompanied by members of the Gay Men’s Chorus and Trans Chorus of Los Angeles.
Other scheduled special guests include Billy Bean, Major League Baseball’s ambassador for inclusion; actors Guillermo Diaz (Scandal) and Noah Galvin (The Real O’Neals); and Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo, plaintiffs in the lawsuit that overturned Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot measure that defined marriage as between one man and one woman.
A fireworks show set to music by George Figares and DJ Blacklow is scheduled to follow the game. Fans will be invited onto the field to watch the show, which will take place before 11 p.m. and is subject to cancellation if the game lasts too long, like all of the Friday night fireworks shows at Dodger Stadium.
A ticket package that includes a Dodger LGBT T-shirt, with a depiction of the team’s name in the colors of the rainbow, is available for purchase at dodgers.com/LGBT.
—City News Service