DADI.org

Three local gay and lesbian professional associations hope to fill part of the upper deck along the first-base line in Veterans Stadium for the game against the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday.

The San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers and Minnesota Twins have played host to gay and lesbian groups in the past. The Chicago Cubs sold almost 2,000 tickets for their annual gay community game in June, and the Florida Marlins will co-sponsor an AIDS awareness night with a weekly gay newspaper, also on Tuesday.

The Atlanta Braves received hundreds of e-mails and phone calls in 2001 criticizing the team for selling a block of tickets to a group leading the bid to bring the 2006 Gay Games to the city.

Phillies officials said stadium security will be prepared to deal with any anti-gay bias, but members of the gay and lesbian community are optimistic about the group's reception by Philadelphia's fiery fans.

"Philadelphia is a passionate city _ passionate about their sports, passionate about their teams, and I'm hoping all the fans just embrace each other and be passionate about the game," said Sue Gildea, a season-ticket holder who will attend the game with about 100 members of the City of Brotherly Love Softball League.

On Tuesday at the Vet, one of the fans in the group will throw out the first pitch, and "Gay Community Day" will be displayed on the scoreboard along with six other groups that purchased blocks of tickets for that game.

"Gay people aren't perceived as being sports fans, and this would break that stereotype," said Larry Felzer, chair of the Gay and Lesbian Lawyers of Philadelphia, which joined the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association and the local chapter of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists in sponsoring the event. "I didn't expect (Phillies management) to be welcoming and opening, and they have been incredible."

Kathy Killian, the Phillies' director of group sales, said she expected the group to sell between 400 and 500 tickets; 492 tickets were sold as of Thursday.

The corporate night for the gay community may become an annual event if all goes well, Killian said.

"What we started here is just an open door policy, regardless of what your beliefs are," she said.