Woman Talks About Dodger Stadium's LGBT Night Years After Being Kicked Out For Kissing Girlfriend
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Thirteen years after two women got kicked out of a Los Angeles Dodgers game for kissing, the stadium plans to host its first lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender night later this month.
Danielle Goldey and her then-girlfriend, Meredith Kott, had gone to see the Dodgers play the Cubs in Aug. 2000. They celebrated the home runs by kissing.
Eventually, Goldey said, some security guards came to their row.
"Apparently someone, some woman, actually reported to security, in these exact words, 'I don't want my kids around those kind of people,'" she said.
The couple threatened to file a lawsuit, but the team worked out a settlement with them that included a public apology and giving out 5,000 tickets to gay and lesbian groups.
In a 2000 Los Angeles Times piece, ex-Dodgers President Bob Graziano said, "We want everybody in this entire city to feel comfortable coming out here."
Goldey said one thing they requested—but didn't get—was Gay Night at Dodger Stadium.
KNX 1070's Claudia Peschiutta asked the lifelong Dodger fan how it felt to see it happen in 2013.
Woman Talks About Dodger Stadium's LGBT Night Years After Being Kicked Out For Kissing Girlfriend
"Clearly we've come a long way, a long way, but I still think it took a little too long to get there," Goldey said. "Thirteen years, I think, was a little ridiculous."
Attorney Bernie Bernheim, who represented the women, said Goldey should get to throw the first pitch on LGBT Night Out on Sept. 27.
"Then she could tell everyone in the world to see that she went from getting thrown out to getting to throw the first pitch," he said.
Goldey said throwing the first pitch would be icing on the cake of a year in which the Supreme Court struck down a key provision of the Defense of Marriage Act and cleared the way for same-sex marriages to resume in California.
"I'm happy that other...especially the younger generation can go and hold hands at a game, just like straight couples, and not feel that they're going to be kicked out or, you know, shamed for it," Goldey said.
