Another controversy is brewing with “Pride Night” and baseball.
It was just a few days ago that the San Francisco Giants made headlines when some members of their team wrote Bible verses on their caps during “Pride Night.” The starting pitcher for the Giants, Landen Roupp, cited “Gen 9:12-16” on his hat right next to the rainbow logo for the “Pride Night” celebration.
MLB chief communications officer Pat Courtney released a statement confirming that the league issued a warning to the players on altering their uniforms:
“The writing on the cap violates our rules, and consistent with normal practice, we have warned the players about future violations.”
Major League Baseball said that the warning was routine, and had nothing to do with the specific message, but rather the writing on the official uniform in general. The league also reassured through a statement that they respect the players’ right to free expression.
Over in the minor leagues, a comparatively more serious issues has arose with the York Revolution. They were setting up to host their 11th Annual Pride Night tonight (June 18), but a large number of the Revolution players refused to suit up in the Pride Night jerseys. That actually led the team to cancel the game and treat it as a rainout, so that fans can redeem their tickets for a future game.
The York Revolution put out a statement saying they’ll shift their “Pride Night” to a free admission event, and stated that they didn’t want to make any Revolution players uncomfortable by forcing them to wear the special jerseys:
“It is with great disappointment and that the York Revolution have issued important changes to our 11th Annual Pride Night on Thursday, June 18th. Most significantly, the scheduled game between York and Southern Maryland will not be played and Pride will still be hosted as a free admission event. Everyone’s tickets for the game on Thursday will be treated as a rainout that can be redeemed for any future game.
This decision was not reached lightly. Unfortunately, several of our players have refused to wear the scheduled Pride Night jersey and the club decided that hosting the event is more important than forcing players to wear jerseys they are not comfortable with and playing the game.
As a result, and out of respect for the Pride Community and the York community as a whole, the York Revolution has decided that the game on Thursday, June 18 will be forfeited and that Pride Night will continue on as the feature element of the evening at WellSpan Park. We feel that this is the best way to stay consistent with our long-standing partnerships with the Rainbow Rose Center, JLS Automation and the long list of allies that have always been key partners of the York Revolution’s success in York, Pennsylvania.”
Though the York Revolution seemed to be siding with the comfort of their players – at least in terms of not wanting to put on a game and force them to wear “Pride Night” jerseys – they also said in their statement that the viewpoint of many on the team did not represent the team’s vision as a whole, and that they’d be making a donation to an LGBTQIA+:
“To be clear; this action by the players is completely inconsistent with our vision as the Most Welcoming Place in York. As a small token of our regret for the last-minute change of plans and support for our LGBTQIA+ representing partners we are making a $10,000 donation to the Rainbow Rose Center to support and further their work in making sure the York community is as inclusive as we strive to make WellSpan Park in York, Pennsylvania.”
This seems to be the first real team-wide effort we’ve seen from players who don’t want to be involved in a Pride Night celebration, which is absolutely their right to not participate in. It will be interesting to see if it sparks an even greater pushback from more professional athletes. Between this and the Giants situation, you have to wonder if this will mark the first step towards getting the celebration of sexual preferences out of the ballpark entirely? It certainly seems like a possibility.
