US culture wars come to baseball as MLB celebrates Pride month

The league has made efforts to welcome LGBTQ+ people into ballparks but recent pushback has shown that large parts of the sport remain conservative

When the Los Angeles Dodgers arranged their latest annual Pride Night the team probably did not envision facing opponents from the Catholic League as well as the National League.

Gamedays that celebrate LGBTQ+ communities through initiatives such as rainbow-themed uniforms and drag queens throwing out the ceremonial first pitch are commonplace, and until recently they typically occurred with little fuss. Now they are a battlefield in the culture wars, with Dodger Stadium at the centre of the fiercest conflict.