Their opponents on Wednesday, the Rangers, also play in a gay-supportive market in Dallas-Fort Worth, yet the team’s distinction as being the only MLB team to never hold an official Pride night stands out more as each year passes. Houston is very LGBTQ-friendly and it’s great that the Astros are back with a Pride night (one was planned for 2020 but canceled due to the pandemic). “We recognize this is one of the most diverse cities in the country and we recognize the city has one of the strongest, if not the strongest, LGBTQ communities in the state,” Astros’ senior vice president for marketing and communications Anita Sehgal told the Houston Chronicle before the 2020 season. The Astros held their only previous Pride night in July 2010 and sold 1,000 tickets to the event that was understated for such a promotion (the city’s mayor at the time, Annise Parker, was openly gay, and yet she threw out the second pitch.
Their opponent is the Texas Rangers, the only Major League Baseball team to never have an official night to honor their LGBTQ fans. The Houston Astros will give away a rainbow-colored hoodie on Wednesday as part of their first Pride night since 2010.
