Phoenix fans praise Mercury, Diamondbacks, Rising for Pride Month games

Mars Hattya and Charlie Radford walked through the doors of Footprint Center Sunday dawning the Phoenix Mercury’s limited edition Pride Night gear and a Pride flag draped around their shoulders.

Rainbow earrings were dangling from Radford’s ears. Rainbow purses were in their hands.

It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary for the two to attend a Mercury game. Phoenix is their team. Brittney Griner and Diana Taurasi are their favorite players. The X-Factor — boisterous and loyal Mercury fans — are their people. To Hattya and Radford, a Mercury game feels like home.

“I don’t feel judged coming here,” Hattya said, their rainbow-colored hair cascading down their shoulders. “I’m not a sports fan, but I love the WNBA and our team here. It’s just a comfort I didn’t realize I had until recently.”

The Mercury hosted its annual Pride Night game Sunday against the Seattle Storm at Footprint Center. To say the team went all out for the LGBTQ+ celebration would be a wild understatement. The Mercury, who beat the Storm 87-78, filled every corner of the arena with pride.

The Mercury are among many professional sports teams who designate a Pride-themed game in June, which is celebrated across the country as Pride Month. Both the Arizona Diamondbacks and Phoenix Rising also scheduled June Pride games.

At Sunday’s Mercury post-game press conference, Brittney Griner sat down and placed a Bud Light can on the table. When asked about the beer, Griner said it was because of the Pride celebrations.

“It’s my day so I’m celebrating,” Griner said.

The team’s Hip Hop squad sported every color of the rainbow, with glitter eyeshadow smeared across their eyes. The dance members greeted each X-Factor member who walked through the doors. Scorch the mascot sprinted across the Mercury floor, waving the Pride flag 20 feet in the air as the Mercury’s starting five were announced. The Mercury and its fans were out and proud in every sense of the word.

“You can generally tell who’s part of the (LGBTQ+) community and who’s not,” Radford said. “It’s really nice to see everybody being out and proud about it when normally we try to go under the radar.”

The Mercury were the first professional sports team in Arizona to host a Pride Night, 11 years ago. For Mercury fan Chelle Kramer, the 2023 Pride Night motivated her to buy season tickets. She only came to the Mercury last year because of the celebration, but the authenticity and enthusiasm from both fans and players pushed her to make the purchase.

She didn’t just come to Sunday’s game to cheer for the Mercury. She came to cheer for the LGBTQ+ community, wearing a basketball jersey with the words “Team Pride” plastered across the front.

“(The Mercury) appreciate that their fans come from all different walks of life,” Kramer said. “And that love might be different from one person to the next.”

Three days before the Mercury’s Pride Night game against the Storm, Natasha Miczek had surgery to get her tonsils removed. She was still recovering from the procedure when she walked into Footprint Center. She couldn’t even talk yet, but that didn’t stop her from attending an event she had been looking forward to all year.

Her hand gripped her partner’s as she remained voiceless in the arena. Her partner Carrie Conner spoke for her. The two were attending the game for free. The Mercury gave their LGBTQ+ softball league, Cactus Cities Softball, 60 tickets for Pride Night.

“It’s really women empowering to see so much equality all around,” Conner said, holding the free Pride Night fanny pack she was given at the door.

The Diamondbacks hosted its Pride Night on June 14 in their 7-1 win against the White Sox. A rainbow-colored “A” was imprinted into Chase Field. The Pride Flag waved in the wind at the corner of Jefferson and Third. The team hosted Mercury players Griner, Kahleah Copper and Natasha Cloud to throw the first pitches. A pride walk took place along the warning track.

“Did you see those strikes?” Copper said after her 30-point game against the Storm, referring to the pitches. “First of all, we had very little practice, and we were really good. So, I’m proud of us.”

Diamondbacks fans Amber Beltramo and Alyssa Delavara walked up Jefferson Street toward Chase Field with small Pride Flags sticking out of their back pockets. They each had a Pride pin stuck to the sleeves of their shirts. They don’t often attend Diamondbacks’ games but attended last Friday night to show their support for the LGBTQ+ community.

Delavara said any support for the LGBTQ+ community is necessary, but it is even more important that professional sports teams in Phoenix dedicate a night to celebrate Pride.

“It’s important that the community knows they have allies,” Delavara said. “I feel like sports communities can sometimes not be in favor of the LGBTQ+ community. I think that it’s a really different and eye-opening environment to have these celebrations at games.”

Of all the MLB teams, the Texas Rangers are the only one that does not host a Pride Night. All 12 of the WNBA teams have a Pride Night game during June.

Radford plans to attend the Phoenix Rising’s Pride Night on Saturday, where the Rising will face Charleston Battery at Phoenix Rising Stadium, dawning the same Pride flag draped around their shoulders and Rainbow jewelry dangling from their ears.

The Rising have made efforts to support the LGBTQ+ community after a 2021 controversy in which a Rising player used a homophobic slur during a game in San Diego, an incident that also drew criticism of its former coach’s initial response. Since then, the team has worked to learn more and work with local LGBTQ+ organizations in the community.

Radford said the Rising’s efforts to support and celebrate the LGBTQ+ community since that game are a welcome change.

“It’s still really cool to be able to go out to a place that is primarily a cis(gender)-white-man area and be able to see all of the support,” Radford said, “and see the way the team has grown into being one of the most accepting teams within the USL championship.”

They referenced the 2021 incident when commending the Rising for its continued support of the LGBTQ+ community.

“They’ve been trying really hard to get the support out there because of the issue back in 2021.”

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Mercury, Diamondbacks, Rising had Pride Nights. Here’s what fans said