Oakland Athletics Pride Night 2015

My A's family

UPDATE ON 3/30/15: 

Thank you all for supporting this effort. Since posting this, the response has been (unsurprisingly) overwhelmingly positive. Many have offered to donate their tickets for this effort, and others have offered to donate money to buy tickets. My boyfriend, Oakland A’s pitcher Sean Doolittle, has agreed to match any tickets I purchase. And we also started a GoFundMe account to collect donations to fill the stands at this game. You can donate here. Sean and I will match donations up to $3000. We will use the donations to buy tickets to the 6/17 Pride Night game and donate them to Our Space LGBTQI Community Center for teens and young adults. Thank you in advance for your generosity! 

As some of you know, the Oakland Athletics will be hosting their first LGBT Pride Night on June 17.  Hopefully this will be the first of many such A’s events. You can purchase tickets here.

Many people don’t know this about me, but I have two moms. My biological mom Kathy and her partner Elise (who grew up in the Bay Area) are both die-hard A’s fans as well as super gay. Like, they’re so gay for each other that they’ve fostered a long-term loving relationship likely no different from any heterosexual loving relationships you’ve seen or been a part of.

My moms are transplant San Diegans living amongst all of the San Diego Padres fans. The team the Athletics will play (and beat) on Pride Night? The San Diego Padres. This night was made for them. In fact I’m starting to suspect that the Athletics focus-grouped this event idea with just my two moms and nobody else.

It couldn’t be any more perfectly tailored to my moms than if the team announced that NPR’s Terry Gross will also be throwing out the first pitch and there will be a free notepad giveaway on which my moms can write down all of the reasons I should have majored in something more practical in college.

Terry Gross

However, as soon as the Athletics announced the LGBT Pride Night event on social media, I was saddened to read some of the replies about their decision to have a night of inclusion for the LGBT community.

Many season ticket holders (certainly not all of them) indicated a desire to sell their tickets to that game so that they wouldn’t have to attend. So that gave me an idea. Here goes:

Dear season ticket holders who wish to sell their tickets for LGBT Pride Night,

Everybody is entitled to their own beliefs and as long as nobody is getting hurt, I’m happy. I also can’t stop you from selling your tickets. I won’t tell you that you are wrong or that you are not allowed to think or act that way.

We live in a free country, after all. You are free to think and say and do whatever you’d like. In fact just this morning I used my freedom to eat yogurt with a steak knife because I ran out of clean spoons (because SOMEone forgot to turn on the dishwasher last night). Who was going to stop me? That’s right. Nobody. Nice try bin Laden.

I ended up cutting the corner of my mouth on the knife, and it wasn’t one of my brightest decisions. But I may have just invented a DIY smile enhancement. And I will sue you if you steal my idea. #America

I digress. So, A’s fans; if attending a baseball game on LGBT Pride Night makes you at all uncomfortable, it is probably a good idea to sell your tickets. And I have the perfect buyer. ME!

If you’d like to sell your tickets to June 17th’s LGBT Pride Night game, I will buy them from you at face value. As many as I can. No judgments. No questions asked.

From there, I will donate any tickets I purchase to the Bay Area Youth Center’s Our Space community for LGBTQ youth.

That way you don’t have to feel uncomfortable, and the seats don’t go to waste. It’s win-win.

Please tweet at me (@EireannDolan) if you’d like to sell me your tickets. I’ll purchase as many unwanted tickets as I can out of my own pocket. I also encourage other A’s fans to do the same. Let’s fill the stands that night!

Love,

Eireann and my hella gay moms

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153 thoughts on “Oakland Athletics Pride Night 2015”

  1. Pingback: Girlfriend of Oakland A’s pitcher puts her money where her mouth is about team’s LGBT Pride Night - The Washington Post

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  3. Kevin says:

    Longtime baseball fan (Go Tigers!); and not gay; except maybe that time when I was 24(and 26). I do, however, know a lot of super gay people and most of them I will call my friends. Now I’ve been to many a baseball game in my life and Sweet Lord Almighty can they be drawn out, tedious affairs no matter how much one drinks, right? What on earth would make one game infinitely awesome? How about 60,000 plus super duper. wild and crazy gays and their not so gay friends; that’s what!

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  4. Pingback: Today In Gay: Oakland A’s Announces Gay-Friendly ‘Pride Night’ Game. Ally Wants To Go With You! Join Her And Go Gay For The A! « LIVE 105

  7. Ms. Dolan,
    I read this story on Facebook, I think this is GREAT! I applaud both you and Mr. Doolittle for taking on this endeavor. Whether it be a designated LGBT night or not, I hope the Season’s Ticket holders realize that there are members of the LGBT community present at all games. We enjoy and support Baseball too! If I were in the Bay area, I would gladly attend.
    My thanks and respect,
    S.Haefs

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  9. Pingback: Girlfriend Of Oakland A's Pitcher Sean Dolittle Makes Incredible Move For Team's First LGBT Pride Night - LiberalVoiceLiberalVoice — Your source for everything about liberals and progressives! — News and tweets about everything liber

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  26. Eireann!!! You and Doo are wonderful people! I can’t wait for this night and I won’t be selling you my tickets (sorry!!)! Thank you for what you are doing for the LBGT community. I’m straight but I have gay friends and believe that everyone deserves equal rights! I’m also proud of my favorite team for recognizing and celebrating diversity! Thank you and Doo so much for representing the club in such a great way! I’m proud to be an A’s fan!!! Way to go! I will pass along your message!! Let’s Go Oakland!!!

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  27. Pingback: Love Notes from Paradise… | Tales of Two

  28. Pingback: Girlfriend Of Oakland A’s Pitcher Sean Dolittle Makes Incredible Move For Team’s First LGBT Pride Night | The H2O Standard

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  32. Eireann Dolan, you rock…from one baseball fan (Go Buccos!) to another, “thank you”, thank you for being a positive role model in a world or negativity, we are all truly created equal and deserve to be treated as such

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  33. Jessica N. says:

    Hello! I’m not A’s fan, I am huge Dodgers fan but I love what you are doing for LGBT community. As someone who struggled with accepting their sexuality, this means so much to me. My grandpa is the one who got me into baseball. I remember when I came out to him and how much he just accepted me. I also remember when he told he voted no on Prop 8. I also remember when the Dodgers did an ‘it gets better’ video and how I tears in my eyes when I saw it. These seem like little things but it means so much to those who may have struggled, to the ones who didn’t but understand, and to allies to who understand. Thank you!!! You are making your moms very proud!!!

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  35. Pingback: The Oakland Athletics open their arms to the LGBT community. « OutsidePitchMLB LLC

  38. This is so great to see! The world needs more people like you! And more MLB teams need to have LGBT nights, especially my New York Mets after Daniel Murphy’s poor taste in words last month. Maybe this season I’ll root for the A’s just for you!

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  39. Alex Clemens says:

    I shot coffee out my nose TWICE during my reading of this. Then I treated a group of five people at this coffee shop who asked what was making me explode with laughter to a dramatic reading of your blog post, during which much hilarity ensued.

    It is distinctly possible that you are my new favorite writer on the planet. Wait, not writer, activist. Wait, not activist, person.

    Thank you. This was wonderful.

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  40. Jessica C says:

    If I lived in Cali I would totally be at that game! YOU ROCK!!!!!! What a great role model you are for our kids – I have 2 and I’ll be sure to show them this awesome blog!

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  42. annembracker says:

    Eireann, I came across an article ( http://attitude.co.uk/baseball-player-buys-tickets-to-fill-stadium-on-lgbt-night/ ) about your generous goal of purchasing the tickets to the LGBTQ Pride night from any bigoted season ticket holder who didn’t want to support the A’s for that one game just because “the gay” offends them. I’ve opened up your GoFundMe page in a separate browser tab and plan to donate after I’ve finished this message.

    One of the comments on that article mentioned Stella’s resume on this blog and I had to read it for myself. I got such a kick out of it that I went to the beginning of your blog and read each entry and fell in love with Stella, you, Sean, your moms, and even the Oakland A’s (I’m not really a baseball fan, but I’m a total fangirl of the Kansas University Jayhawks Men’s Basketball team).

    Thank you for spreading the love, diversity, equality, and acceptance. I look forward to reading more of your adventures with Sean and Stella and anyone else who comes along for the ride! And who knows… maybe Terry Gross will be invited to throw out the first pitch for Pride Night and I can read all about your moms introduction to Terry!

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  43. Chris Wood says:

    You are my new favorite person. I’ve never paid much attention to the A’s (Cubs fan), but I’ll be following and rooting for Sean going forward for having the smarts to be with such a wonderful person (and, I assume, for being awesome on his own). Great, great job, Eireann.

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  44. Hi Ms. Dolan: What do you think about an official A’s pride cap? Have the A’s logo over a rainbow? I would like to buy one, but I don’t think it exists. I called the MLB shop, and the salesperson let me know that MLB will gladly make whatever caps they are asked to make pursuant to an agreement, but it has to start with the organization. She suggested I get in touch with the A’s. The business office is closed right now, and I know that you have–how should I say it?–close ties to the organization.

    If you think this is a good idea, I’d love to see you rally some support around it. I would also be willing to pay a premium for the cap if a portion was donated to a worthy cause. I think a lot of other A’s fans would, too. It seems like a win-win-win situation, don’t you think?

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  45. Barbara says:

    I just bought a pair of tickets for myself and my 11 yr. old daughter. She came out to me this year, and I couldn’t be more proud of her. She is a very active and proactive member of her middle school’s Gay Straight Alliance group. She spreads pride and the message of equality everywhere she goes. I was so happy to learn about this fantastic night, and even happier to see what you and your boyfriend are doing to get queer youth to the game. If you need another place to donate tickets, I know that my daughter’s GSA group would love the opportunity to attend. Go A’s!

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  46. Eireann, you have harnessed two of the most powerful forces in the universe – humor and love – to defeat two other powerful forces, fear and hate.

    Way to go, girl – you are a wonderful writer and a fine and funny human and we need more of those!! Keep up the good work!

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  47. Congratulations, Eireann for harnessing the power of humor and love to defeat the power of fear and hate. You’re a wonderful writer and a kind and funny human and we need more of those!!

    (Oh, yeah – go A’s!!)

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  48. Pingback: I have a new shero | Dating Jesus

  50. Yankee Fan says:

    You and Sean and the A’s organization do the American league proud. Just sent an email through the A’s homepage stating as much. Hoping all who think the same will do the same.

    Go American.
    (P.S. to hella gay moms: Nicely done. Nicely done indeed.)

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