Protesters shut down Dodger Stadium main gate on Pride Night

The Los Angeles Dodgers' Pride Night arrived Friday, with the protester and police presence you would expect after weeks of controversy stirred up around the guests invited to the event.

The Dodgers received criticism from Catholic and conservative figures after they announced they would be giving an award to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a group of people who dress in drag as nuns and were among the first organizations to offer support to AIDS patients at a time when such help was severely lacking.

The team reacted to the backlash by uninviting the Sisters from Pride Night, which led to an opposing backlash from other Pride Night partners. The team eventually apologized and reinvited the Sisters, drawing further condemnation from the likes of former vice president Mike Pence and U.S. Senator Marco Rubio.

Many, including the Dodgers' longtime ace, Clayton Kershaw, criticized the Sisters for supposedly mocking Catholicism by dressing up as nuns, an act the organization does as a protest against the church's treatment of the LGBTQ+ community.

The end result of the controversy was a "prayerful procession" held at a parking lot outside Dodger Stadium before the Pride Night game, which ended up shutting down the main entrance into the stadium.

A similar but smaller scene played out two years ago when anti-vaccination protesters targeted the team's mass vaccination site in 2021.

The actual content of the protest was reportedly muddled, rather than a straight condemnation of the Sisters' method of protest. Members of the far-right group the Proud Boys were reportedly in attendance, while two attendees told Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle that they didn't know if they were protesting the Sisters, the Pride Night or both. Among the statements thrown out on the megaphone were "You either have a penis or a vagina" and "Stay away from our kids."

Alex Villanueva, a former Los Angeles County sheriff ousted last election after a litany of scandals, was among the speakers.

There was a heavy police presence around the whole scene, as well as on the field, where the Dodgers presented the Sisters their award in front of a mostly empty stadium aboit an hour before first pitch.

Speaking with reporters before the game, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts voiced his support of the Pride Night, per The Athletic:

Roberts mentioned that Dodgers players "have had conversations" about the event, while San Francisco Giants manager Gabe Kapler said he and many of his players were “very proud to be wearing pride colors tonight."