A Baseball Brawl Became A Gay Make-Out At Portland’s “Heated Rivalry” Night!
It looked like the start of a baseball brawl. The pitcher drilled the batter with a ball, the batter marched toward the mound, and the crowd braced for a fight. Then the two players grabbed each other and kissed. The Portland Pickles pulled the stunt at their Heated Rivalry theme night, and the video passed a million views in 12 hours.
The Pickles, a collegiate summer team based in Portland, Oregon, scripted the whole thing. The pitcher hit the batter. The batter charged. Instead of throwing punches, the pair met halfway and started making out in front of the crowd, all soundtracked to t.A.T.u.’s All the Things She Said.
The night, cheekily branded Heated Riv-Dill-ry, tipped its cap to Heated Rivalry, the gay hockey romance adapted from Rachel Reid’s novel. The story follows two rival professional players who fall for each other, and it has been credited with giving real athletes cover to talk about competing while closeted. A second season is on the way. The Pickles clearly know their audience, and they leaned all the way in.
A men’s baseball team staged a same-sex kiss as the main event, played it for laughs, and got a million people cheering rather than sneering. Ask most queer sports fans how that would have gone down a decade ago.
At DNA, we’ll take the pickle puns and the t.A.T.u. throwback if it means two men can kiss on a pitch and the loudest response is applause.
