by Shaun Knittel - SGN Associate Editor

An LGBTQ Seattle staple, Bat n' Rouge - which features Lesbians versus the Drag Queens playing softball - took place August 29 on Bobby Morris Playfield at Seattle's Cal Anderson Park.

Originally, the crazy competition, in which members of the audience could pay to strike out a player, make them swing at the ball with a crooked bat, or pay for a point - all in the name of raising funds for the Capitol Hill Alano Club (CHAC) - took place in early June and was widely viewed as the official Seattle Pride kickoff party. However, CHAC handed over the reins to Seattle Area Support Groups and Community Center (SASG) a few years ago, and the event now takes place in August.

Nobody seemed to mind the change, as the stands were packed with people from the LGBTQ community and others who just seemed interested in the spectacle that is Bat 'n Rouge.

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, who is openly Gay, was on hand to throw the first pitch. Local entertainer David Marshall sang the national anthem.

Ceasar Hart, team captain for the Lesbian team, the Lez-broz, told SGN that for the third year in a row, the Lez-broz took home the win, having bested the queens in one of the most fun and memorable games in recent memory. (The event has been going 18 years strong.)

To be honest, there is no real way to report what the score was because, well, it doesn't matter in the end. Suffice to say the Lez-broz ran a number of victory laps as soon as they got word they had officially won, and the queens, well, the queens tried to (all in good fun) attack them.

To add more money to the fundraising pool, SASG raffled off prizes from local artist John Criscitello. SASG has not yet made public the amount of money it was able to raise at the game. SGN will post the amount on our Facebook page as soon as we get the word.

Seriously, if you haven't seen a Bat 'n Rouge before, don't miss it next year!

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