Pelosi throws out first pitch during Nationals' LGBTQ Pride event
The former House speaker was picked for “her long-standing commitment to fighting for the rights and dignities of the LGBTQ+ community,” the D.C. team said.
![Pelosi throws out first pitch during Nationals' LGBTQ Pride event](https://static.politico.com/84/41/14f83a5f4041a4ad5b875898e4a7/diamondbacks-nationals-baseball-19613.jpg?#)
![](https://static.politico.com/84/41/14f83a5f4041a4ad5b875898e4a7/diamondbacks-nationals-baseball-19613.jpg)
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) took to the field Tuesday evening to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Washington Nationals’ “Night OUT” themed game, Major League Baseball’s longest-running LGBTQ celebration.
The former House speaker was picked for “her long-standing commitment to fighting for the rights and dignities of the LGBTQ+ community,” the team said in the announcement Monday.
The 83-year-old lawmaker took a few steps in from the mound on Tuesday evening tolob the ball to the catcher — the bald-eagle mascot dressed in a rainbow shirt for the event.
“I’ll always be a @SFGiants fan, but tonight my pitch was to celebrate the vibrancy of our LGBTQ+ communities with @TeamDCSports and @Nationals. Happy Pride!” Pelosi tweeted after the toss .
The event comes after another MLB team, the Los Angeles Dodgers, faced backlash after inviting — and then, at the behest of conservative Catholics, uninviting — a satirical drag group, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, to their Pride Night.
A portion of ticket sales will be donated to Team DC, an organization “that educates the LGBTQ community on the benefits of individual and team sports participation,” the team said in the announcement.