Dodgers Foundation CEO Nichol Whiteman talks Pride Night invite controversy

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The Los Angeles Dodgers have been making headlines, both on and off the field in recent months, especially when it comes to the topic of Pride Month.

The Dodgers had invited an LGBTQ+ group to participate in their Pride Night, then uninvited them amid concerns about their spoofing of nuns and church policies around sexuality.

Then, after the LGBTQ+ community expressed outrage, the group was reinvited back the team's Pride Night.

So where do they stand now?

Eyewitness News met with Nichol Whiteman, the CEO of the Dodgers Foundation, to get a better understanding of their work regarding inclusion.

For example, the L.A. Dodgers Dream Team, which is backed by the foundation, has thousands of young athletes participating, making it a more inclusive diamond. However, that's far from a victory lap.

Whiteman described the incident with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence as challenging.

"Challenged is a great word," she said. "I think, you know, from a Dodgers Foundation perspective, we weren't involved in the decisions to invite or uninvite or anything surrounding Pride Night. It's so difficult, difficult because, quite frankly, our mission is around serving all Angelenos.'

Days after uninviting the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and as other LGBTQ+ organizations backed out of Pride Night, the Dodgers apologized to the community.

"I don't think enough information was had on the front end and things were decided hastily," said Whiteman. "No bad intentions. No one intentionally wanted to not support one community or the other."

The initial backlash that led the Dodgers to uninvite the group was the first of what has become a pattern of protests against LGBTQ+ pride.

The Dodgers, within days, had conversations with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, reinvited them, and added a Christian Faith and Family day in July. When asked if it's possible to make everybody feel seen and heard in a meaningful way during these times, Whiteman said it is.

"It's possible to have communities be seen and heard," she said. "We have to understand that we're going to have differences in which communities are seen and heard and when they're seen and heard. My hope as Nichol Whiteman, the CEO of the Dodgers Foundation, is that we can continue to educate people that seeing each other's differences and understanding each other's differences is what makes us a better place, it's what makes us a better Los Angeles."

Whiteman said she isn't sure what to expect during Dodger Pride Night, which is slated for Friday, June 16.

The Angels held its Pride Night on Wednesday, which was met with a small protest.

The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence say their entire group is looking forward to Dodgers Pride Night.