Angels celebrate Pride night with pageantry

Paige Matthews, a 26-year-old Southern California drag queen, was absolutely shocked when she heard the news. The Angels, as part of their Pride Night celebration on Wednesday, supported and welcomed Matthews, delivering the game ball to the mound for the game.

“In that moment, it was still a very hot topic,” Matthews, 26, said, “the Dodgers having disinvited the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence during a time when these organizations are supposed to lift us up, during Pride month, regardless of whether they do so the other 11 months of the year.

“And I kind of lost faith for a little bit. Maybe we’re actually regressing. And then I got the phone call and I was told, ‘Hey, they would love to invite you for this opportunity.’ That reignited the spark in me. Like ‘OK, there is hope in this society.’”

And Matthews’ moment — with her dressed in full drag makeup, long painted red acrylics, one with a baseball painted on and wearing a custom Angels uniform — was about as normal as that of any other fan invited to deliver the game ball. No cheers, no booing. Just another baseball fan doing something many baseball fans would want to do.

The decision to have a drag queen deliver the game ball was made during a meeting between Orange County Pride and the Angels organization while planning the event. OC Pride’s organizers were the ones that floated the idea of allowing Matthews to be part of pregame festivities. The Angels’ response stunned OC Pride organizers as much as it did Matthews.

“[Angels President John Carpino] was the first to say, ‘Even though we haven’t done this before, if this is something Orange County Pride feels like this is what will represent your organization, then you have our support,’” OC Pride board member Angel Bonilla recalled.

Bonilla said he broke down in happy tears relaying the news to Matthews.

Manny Muro, left, and Paige Matthews right, interact with fans during Pride night just before the first pitch during the Angels versus Chicago Cubs game at Angel Stadium on Wednesday.

(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

“I was shocked because every year they’ve always been nice,” Bonilla continued, “but with everything going on right now, I was thinking maybe they would be like ‘Hey, maybe we need to tone everything down.’ We’ve worked with other organizations and sometimes that’s what’s asked of us.”

Bonilla and OC Pride vice president Manny Muro said that even in planning this year’s Pride event, the Angels never dictated what they were to do and never asked them to downscale any of the planning.

“Even from where we’re at now, like we had multiple options,” Muro said. “They really wanted to make sure that we felt safe and that our concerns were heard.”

The Angels Pride event included some organizations with booths in the Gate 5 courtyard of Angel Stadium and a photo wall and attracted Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken, who last month tweeted that she invited the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence as her guests after the Dodgers initially disinvited the group from their upcoming Pride event.

The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence interact with fans during Pride night at the Angels versus Chicago Cubs game at Angel Stadium on Wednesday.

(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

The Sisters expressed their excitement over the invitation, with some of their small contingent being die-hard Angels fans, showing up in their full drag makeup, taking pictures with fans and speaking to other media members present.

“What makes me proud is that I’m able to represent the LGBTQ community to the straight community,” said Sister Fuzzywuzzy, who’s been an Angels fan since Angel Stadium opened. “As you’ve seen, we’ve been supported by the community. So the work that we’re doing is worthwhile.”

There was no mention of Pride Night or digital signage celebrating it during the game, though fans wearing the white Angels cap with the Pride flag, distributed before the game, was seen.

The Angels started implementing Pride celebrations in 2019, collaborating with OC Pride since then.

“Baseball is for everyone,” Muro said. “After this event, we’ll probably be like ‘Oh, we’re invited next year.’ We’re already working for next year.”