The Los Angeles Dodgers will celebrate LA Pride Friday night with the team's fifth annual LGBT Night, featuring a kickoff party at Dodger Stadium for the first time.
The party will be from 5:30-7:10 p.m. in the Right Field Plaza at the start of a weekend of LA Pride events. Ceremonial first pitches before the game against the Cincinnati Reds will be thrown by the Emmy-nominated actor Matt Bomer and Brian Pendleton, founder of Sunday's ResistMarch, which will begin at Hollywood and Highland and head to West Hollywood.
Bomer is best known for his starring role in the 2009-14 USA Network crime drama "White Collar." He received an outstanding supporting actor in a miniseries or movie Emmy nomination in 2014 for his role in HBO's "The Normal Heart."
The national anthem will be performed by Dot-Marie Jones, a three-time Emmy nominee for her portrayal of Coach Beiste on the 2009-15 Fox musical "Glee." She will be accompanied by members of the Gay Men's Chorus and Trans Chorus of Los Angeles.
Other scheduled special guests include Billy Bean, Major League Baseball's ambassador for inclusion; actors Guillermo Diaz ("Scandal") and Noah Galvin ("The Real O'Neals"); and Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo, plaintiffs in the lawsuit that overturned Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot measure that defined marriage as between one man and one woman.
A fireworks show set to music by George Figares and DJ Blacklow is scheduled to follow the game. Fans will be invited onto the field to watch the show, which will take place before 11 p.m. and is subject to cancellation if the game lasts too long, like all of the Friday night fireworks shows at Dodger Stadium.
The ticket package includes a Dodger LGBT T-shirt with a depiction of the team's name in the colors of the rainbow.
