The Pride has long championed LGBTQ+ rights, and there are 49 rainbow-colored seats at their home stadium to honor those killed in the Pulse nightclub shooting in 2016. The team was playing the opening match of the NWSL's preseason Challenge Cup against the Washington Spirit on Saturday. The Pride's statement said it wrongly focused on policies and procedures surrounding signs and banners, rather than the meaning of the message.
“These conversations resulted in one ultimate and important conclusion: a mistake was made when the club asked the Black Swans to remove the banner that said ‘GAY,’” the team said Tuesday in a statement. In the fallout, the front office for the National Women's Soccer League team said it would meet with the group to find out what happened. The supporters' group went to Twitter, claiming the sign was deemed political and removed. The Black Swans' banner was in reference to Florida's recent legislation dubbed by critics as the 'Don't Say Gay'' bill. The Orlando Pride has apologized after a supporters' group was told it could not display a banner that said “Gay” at a match this weekend.
