With the stadium at near capacity – less than a thousand seats short of the 42,685-seat maximum – Set Free Ministries’ protest of San Diego Pride’s “Out at the Park” event at Petco Park last Sunday was a total flop.

“We offer sincere thanks to the entire community for the overwhelming support of the ‘Out at the Park’ event on July 8,” said San Diego Pride executive director Ron deHarte this week in a letter to the Gay & Lesbian Times. “The LGBT community and our allies came out in force to support the Gay Men’s Chorus of San Diego, enjoy the ballgame and stand up against hate and homophobia. In total, 1,208 tickets were purchased in support of the first-ever San Diego Pride ‘Out at the Park’ event.

“The Padres may have lost the game; however, our community achieved so much with the positive coverage and visibility of our gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community,” he said.

As reported in this week’s San Diego news section, Set Free Ministries protested Sunday’s game because approximately 1,000 GLBT fans were attending the game on the same night that children 14 and under were to be given a free floppy hat as part of a Padres’ promotion for kids. Although Set Free did not return calls from the Gay & Lesbian Times, it told the San Diego Union-Tribune that San Diego Pride shouldn’t be allowed to have a group at a game while the Padres try to recruit underage fans.

Even the oft-conservative Union-Tribune recognized how ridiculous Set Free’s position was in a June 30 editorial, titled “Tolerance, please.”

“Set Free Ministries worshippers are certainly entitled to their religious views, including the belief that homosexuality is immoral. But it’s downright wrong-headed, in our view, to assert that the mere presence of gay fans at Petco Park would in any way be a corrupting influence on children,” opined the Union-Tribune. “Wouldn’t it be far better to teach our children tolerance by helping them enjoy the Padres-Braves game with the full panoply of people who make up our San Diego community?”

Amen!

Not that he deserves any further press from either the gay or straight media, but, of course, our very own “ex gay” James Hartline was in attendance, encouraging Padres fans to boycott the game. What a jackass!

We would like to thank everyone who attended “Out at the Park” and supported San Diego’s GLBT community, including straight fans who walked right past Set Free’s despicable display of intolerance.

We would also like to applaud the Gay Men’s Chorus of San Diego, who did an outstanding job and made us proud by singing our National Anthem to a cheering crowd. Bravo!

This latest victory over homophobia is the perfect start to San Diego Pride month, which culminates with the Pride parade and festival on July 20-21. The official kickoff takes place this Sunday, July 15, from 3:30-5:30 p.m. with the Spirit of Stonewall Community Celebration, located at the Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park. Keynote speaker at the rally is Joe Darby, co-president of Pride At Work, AFL-CIO. Other speakers include Seth Kilbourn, policy director of Equality California; Coral Lopez, communications manager for Beinestar; and Jason Knight, an openly gay sailor and Hebrew linguist recently deployed to Kuwait despite having publicly come out in national media.

Several more speakers and entertainment are also planned. Let’s show up en masse and show our pride. To get all the details, see our annual pull-out Pride Guide in this week’s Gay & Lesbian Times. In the guide, you’ll find everything you need to know leading up to Pride weekend, including Pride’s complete entertainment and parade lineup.

Remember to look for our Pride issue, due to hit the street next Thursday, July 19. Our largest, most-read issue of the year is truly a reflection of our ever-growing and diverse community. It is to you that we owe our success.