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Cardinals' first Pride Night attracts small protest, much bigger counterprotest

The St. Louis Cardinals held their first Pride Night at Busch Stadium on Friday.

The Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church had promised a protest and delivered a small one. Six church members stood across from the stadium at Clark St. and Broadway Ave. before the game holding up signs.

But the anti-LGBTQ protest was hard to notice behind the sea of counterprotesters standing in front of them.

Thomas True, a former Kansas resident, came out as part of the counterprotest. He held a sign that said “All You Need is Love.”

“This is all to stand against them,” True said, “to show that St. Louis is willing to stand against their hate against the LGBTQIA-plus community and I think we’re doing good. We’ve got a good turn-out.”

More than 50 counterprotesters played music, chanted and responded with enthusiastic shouts whenever cars honked in support. While the demonstration at times felt like a celebration, there was also anger.

“We wanted to bring awareness to not only their hateful rhetoric and let them know that it’s not acceptable here,” said Carly Smale, “but there also are some issues going on in the LGBTQIA community in St. Louis itself.”

St. Louis Police shot and killed a transgender woman named “Kiwi Herring on Tuesday. Police said Herring confronted officers with a knife and would not respond to their commands.

Counterprotesters outside the baseball game, including Smale, hurled invectives at police and chanted “Black Trans Lives Matter.”

Police on bicycles moved into the crowd around 6:30 p.m. to escort the Westboro protesters from the area. They then pushed the counterprotesters off the sidewalk and into Broadway Ave.

For about an hour, the counterprotesters remained there, chanting “Who’s streets are these? Ours!”

Meanwhile, Cardinals fans made their way to the game, a few stopping to take photos or videos of the protests, but most quickly moving on.

Follow Maria on Twitter: @radioaltman

Copyright 2021 St. Louis Public Radio. To see more, visit St. Louis Public Radio.

Amber Whitaker yells at a man with a Donald Trump shirt and an Infowars pin as St. Louis protesters chase him away from Busch Stadium.
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Amber Whitaker yells at a man with a Donald Trump shirt and an Infowars pin as St. Louis protesters chase him away from Busch Stadium.
St. Louis police officers move in to push local protesters into the street and create a path for members of the Westboro Baptist Church to leave after they demonstrated against Cardinals' Pride Night.
Carolina Hidalgo | St. Louis Public Radio /
St. Louis police officers move in to push local protesters into the street and create a path for members of the Westboro Baptist Church to leave after they demonstrated against Cardinals' Pride Night.
Amy Jade dances as protesters block Westboro Baptist Church members who came to St. Louis to demonstrate against Cardinals' Pride Night.
Carolina Hidalgo | St. Louis Public Radio /
Amy Jade dances as protesters block Westboro Baptist Church members who came to St. Louis to demonstrate against Cardinals' Pride Night.
Graham Matthews and Stephen Houldsworth kiss in front of barricades set up around members of the Westboro Baptist Church.
Carolina Hidalgo | St. Louis Public Radio /
Graham Matthews and Stephen Houldsworth kiss in front of barricades set up around members of the Westboro Baptist Church.
Protesters stand against a barricade surrounding Westboro Baptist Church members as St. Louis police push them to clear a path for the anti-gay demonstrators.
Carolina Hidalgo | St. Louis Public Radio /
Protesters stand against a barricade surrounding Westboro Baptist Church members as St. Louis police push them to clear a path for the anti-gay demonstrators.
Protesters line up to block members of the Westboro Baptist Church from view across from Busch Stadium.
Carolina Hidalgo | St. Louis Public Radio /
Protesters line up to block members of the Westboro Baptist Church from view across from Busch Stadium.

Altman came to St. Louis Public Radio from Dallas where she hosted All Things Considered and reported north Texas news at KERA. Altman also spent several years in Illinois: first in Chicago where she interned at WBEZ; then as the Morning Edition host at WSIU in Carbondale; and finally in Springfield, where she earned her graduate degree and covered the legislature for Illinois Public Radio.
Maria Altman
Maria is a reporter at St. Louis Public Radio, specializing in business and economic issues. Previously, she was a newscaster during All Things Considered and has been with the station since 2004. Maria's stories have been featured nationally on NPR's Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition, as well as on Marketplace.