A video of the Philadelphia Gay Men’s Chorus performing “The Star-Spangled Banner” has gone viral online and prompted much praise.
The Philadelphia Phillies invited the Chorus to perform the national anthem last Thursday at a Pride Night baseball game. The Phillies played the New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park (the Mets won 6-4).
A video shared online caught some of the performance. The beautiful harmonizing quickly earned over 50k likes on Instagram.
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The video moved many online.
“Seeing the older men in the choir makes me so emotional,” said one commentator. “They’ve seen so much and have been through so much and probably lost so many friends and they’re here singing. 
”
“It’s so hilarious seeing people assuming being LGBTQ means being anti-American,” said another, earning over 650 likes. The comment ties into other recent debates about progressives and the LGBTQ community reclaiming the Stars and Stripes flag.
Someone else said they were present at the game, and “The gentleman next to me said it was the ‘best’ he had heard all year.”
Another person joked, “That blonde in the front row was laying down and wasn’t even singing.”
The blonde in the front was a golden Labrador.
Unsurprisingly, when the Philadelphia Phillies made a post to mark Pride Night, it prompted clapbacks online.
So much so, the Chorus encouraged people to post messages of support to “drown out the hate.”
The Philadelphia Gay Men’s Chorus next event is a fundraiser entitled “Disco Inferno.” It takes place this Friday (June 26) at the Trestle Inn in Philadelphia.
Baseball team cancels game after players refuse rainbow jerseys
While the Phillies’ Pride Night game resulted in this beautiful viral moment, another team’s game faced cancellation.
The Pennsylvania-based baseball team, York Revolution, plays in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. The team was due to play its Pride Night game last Thursday against the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs. However, several players refused to don special rainbow jerseys. The team management decided to forfeit the game but still host a Pride Night event for fans.
“It is with great disappointment that the York Revolution have issued important changes to our 11th Annual Pride Night on Thursday, June 18th,” said a club statement issued the day before. “Most significantly, the scheduled game between York and Southern Maryland will not be played and Pride will still be hosted as a free admission event.
“This decision was not reached lightly. Unfortunately, several of our players have refused to wear the scheduled Pride Night jersey and the club decided that hosting the event is more important than forcing players to wear jerseys they are not comfortable with and playing the game.”
People who had bought tickets could exchange them for another game.
“To be clear; this action by the players is completely inconsistent with our vision as the Most Welcoming Place in York,” the statement continued. “As a small token of our regret for the last-minute change of plans and support for our LGBTQIA+ representing partners we are making a $10,000 donation to the Rainbow Rose Center to support and further their work in making sure the York community is as inclusive as we strive to make WellSpan Park in York, Pennsylvania.”
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Bates, who played in the Giants organization, spent his weekend defending the trailblazing female coach, Alyssa Nakken.
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