Pride Night and Prejudice: Reactions to How American Professional Sports Franchises Honor Groups, Professions, and Causes
Tyler JohnsonABSTRACT
Introduction
With some frequency, American professional sports franchises fill their home schedule with special “days” and “nights” to honor specific groups in society, professions, or charitable causes. These honors typically receive little attention, but on some occasions, they become flashpoints for controversy. LGBTQIA+ Pride Nights are one such example, attracting praise but also protest. How deep is this protest, and who is most likely to object?
Methods
I present respondents to an opt‐in panel survey with a list of nine real‐world attempts by a Major League Baseball team to recognize groups, professions, and causes across the 2025 season. I then ask them whether or not these honors should return to that team's schedule in 2026.
Results
The only honor that a majority of respondents rejected was LGBTQIA+ Pride Night. Multivariate modeling reveals partisanship, ideology, conservative news usage, and sexual orientation explain who thinks this event should go.
Conclusion
The findings add to the growing body of research on where attitudes toward the LGBTQIA+ community remain divided in modern times and how existing political conflict shapes said division.