For the better part of two decades, Pride Night celebrations in professional sports were conducted with a minimum of fanfare, as clubs enthusiastically showed their support for the LGBTQ community.

Fast forward to last month, when a Florida legislator said discontent with the Gay Pride Night guest list of a Major League Baseball team 2,700 miles away, leading to a cancellation, reversal of the cancellation, and hurt feelings from everyone involved, including that of a two times Cy Young Award-winning pitcher.

At some point, the routine act of endorsing a generic LGBTQ celebration stopped being so routine, and even sewing practice jerseys became a hot topic.

«I think it’s the existing political leanings of the people that show up a little bit,» said US Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wisconsin, chairman of the Congressional Equality Caucus and one of 13 openly LGBTQ members of Congress.

He added: «Since Donald Trump, a lot of people who wear white hoodies have kept them in the closet for the last six years. Suddenly you can say things that are unpopular out loud, because this is today’s environment.»

Cyd Ziegler, gay sports historian and founder of the LGBTQ sports news website Outsports, traces the current reaction to two tipping points: patches and pronouns.

Five Tampa Bay Rays players refused to wear LGBTQ Pride-themed jerseys last June. And earlier this year, Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov and the San Jose Sharkgoalkeeper James Reimer he refused to wear warm-up gear with Pride symbols on it.

«We had teams start putting rainbow Pride flags on players’ uniforms, and that’s when some of the players said, ‘Uh, I’m not going to do that,'» Ziegler said. «So that was a change.»

But the biggest turning point, he said, could be centered around issues around transgender rights. Embracing fundamental gay rights, such as same-sex marriage, was a relatively simple step for most Americans, Ziegler said, and much less complicated than questioning gender roles and identification.

This is «the new front line,» he said, and with trans rights front and center, he doesn’t think the Pride Night debates are going away anytime soon.

“This is not just a bump in the road,” Ziegler said of the reaction. «This is going to be a fight.»

The latest debate over Pride Night stems from the Los Angeles Dodgers tribute the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence at the team’s annual LGBTQ Pride event on June 16.

The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence in West Hollywood, California, in 2016. File Richard Vogel / AP

The decades-old charitable group of drag performers describes itself as a «vanguard Order of Queer and Trans Nuns.»

Pride Night temperatures could even be boiling in the 2024 presidential race, with former Vice President Mike Pence speaking Wednesday about the Dodgers’ guest list.

«Having been raised in a Catholic family, the Dodgers’ decision to invite the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a hateful group that blatantly mocks Catholicism, to their event next month is deeply offensive,» Pence told his Twitter Followers May 31. «MLB shouldn’t apologize to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, they should apologize to Catholics across America.»

Athlete Ally, which promotes sports as a vehicle to end prejudice against the LGBTQ community, said in a statement this week that Pride Night events are important to greater acceptance of all communities.

«Sports has traditionally been a space where LGBTQI+ players, coaches and fans are not welcome,» the group said in a statement. «While much progress has been made over the years, often thanks to our athletes and coaches who have helped pave the way forward, there are still huge barriers to making sport a truly safe, welcoming and inclusive place for all.» .

The group added: «Teams have the power to embed their values ​​in the way they present themselves to the communities that love and support them, and Pride nights are an opportunity for teams to proactively present themselves to their LGBTQI+ fans.»

MLB’s open embrace of the gay community dates back nearly 30 years, when the San Francisco Giants celebrated their first «Until there is a day of healing» in 1994. The game and pre-game ceremonies raised money and awareness for the battle against AIDS.

The event was widely embraced in the San Francisco Bay Area with only minimal disruption.

But Pride Day/Night celebrations are usually traced to a Dodger Stadium incident in August 2000, when security guards kicked out two fans who had kissed in the stands.

The team apologized, handed out tickets to local gay community groups and, perhaps inadvertently, started a sequence of events that led to Pride Day/Night celebrations held by 29 of MLB’s 30 clubs since.

The Texas Rangers remain the only star franchise to have never held such a celebration. Outsports reported.