‘It’s astounding to me how people don’t comprehend that other opinions exist,’ said a pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays, defending five of his teammates who chose not to wear LGBTQ colors on their uniforms in recognition of Pride month.
During Saturday’s game against the visiting Chicago White Sox, the Rays wore LGBTQ emblems on their hats and on the right sleeve of their jerseys in honor of the club’s 16th annual Pride Night celebration.
Five pitchers, however, Jason Adam, Jalen Beeks, Brooks Raley, Jeffrey Springs, and Ray Thompson, declined to wear the outfits that had previously been worn. They chose to wear the Rays’ traditional blue and white colors instead.
‘A lot of it comes down to religion, to like a faith-based decision,’ Adam, a reliever who spoke on behalf of the group, said. ‘All are accepted and cherished here,’ he added, emphasizing that their decision was not based on anti-gay prejudice.
Following the game last weekend, Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash stated that he and the organization “want to support our players who want to wear or choose not to wear to the best of our abilities.”
Nick Anderson, 31, another Rays pitcher, tweeted in support of his teammates on Monday, saying that everyone should be free to have different ideas.
‘It astounds me how people don’t recognize the existence of different beliefs,’ he wrote. ‘And having different beliefs in no way, shape, or form implies that you despise that person or think they are inferior.
You can love everyone while holding opposing viewpoints.’
Anderson then shared a screenshot of a message he wrote on his iPhone in response to his remarks.
‘When I say differing beliefs, I’m talking about the people who believe everyone would wear something and if you don’t, you should burn and are a terrible person or whatever name you want to call them,’ Anderson shared on Twitter. ‘I also was saying that just because you don’t wear maybe a said “patch” doesn’t mean you think those people should burn and are terrible people.’
‘I never once said I thought gay people weren’t born gay,’ Anderson added. ‘Or that homophobia was right. So to all of you who are trying to find any little thing to twist and make someone look bad for saying something that they never said, whatever you got going on in your life making this way, just know that it will all be ok! Much love.’
On Sunday, St Louis Cardinals pitcher Jack Flaherty reacted to the five players on the Rays refusing to wear the Pride-customized jerseys with a two-worded tweet: ‘absolute joke.’
Rays President Matt Silverman told the New York Times on the same day that he was pleased that the event sparked important discussions within the clubhouse.
Silverman said, “I’m proud of the fact that we did this and that so many of our players chose to wear the logo.” ‘I’m also proud of the conversations we had leading up to and following this night.’ That’s a fantastic byproduct: being able to have these conversations is extremely valuable and uncommon.’
On social media, Flaherty’s tweet sparked similar debates, with followers making hypothetical arguments to express their opinions.
‘What if all players were required to wear a cross on their sleeve on Easter Sunday to symbolize the resurrection?’ one of the fans inquired. ‘Would it be acceptable for players to refuse due to religious beliefs or a lack thereof?’
Another fan charged the five pitchers with violating a Christian tenet.
The fan tweeted, ‘Jesus: “This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you (John 15:12).’ ‘ The Tampa Bay Rays have five players on their roster: “It’s against my religion,” I say.
Fans from the local LGBTQ community participated in pregame activities organized by the MLB franchise on Saturday’s Pride-themed night at Tropicana Field. Fans were also given mini LGBTQ flags, and the field’s mount and the stadium’s roof were both decorated with pride colors.
Afterwards, most of the discussion centered around the five pitchers who decided not to wear the logos.
‘It’s a hard decision,’ Adam told the Tampa Bay Times. ‘Because ultimately we all said what we want is them to know that all are welcome and loved here.
‘But when we put it on our bodies, I think a lot of guys decided that it’s just a lifestyle that maybe — not that they look down on anybody or think differently — it’s just that maybe we don’t want to encourage it if we believe in Jesus, who’s encouraged us to live a lifestyle that would abstain from that behavior, just like [Jesus] encourages me as a heterosexual male to abstain from sex outside of the confines of marriage. It’s no different,’ Adam added.
‘It’s not judgmental. It’s not looking down. It’s just what we believe the lifestyle he’s encouraged us to live, for our good, not to withhold. But again, we love these men and women, we care about them, and we want them to feel safe and welcome here,’ he concluded.
Rays officials described the one-night event as a ‘opt-in’ exercise and respect the difference in choices made by the players despite expressing that the preferred outcome would have been to have all the players onboard with the idea.
Outfielder and nine-year team veteran Kevin Keirmaier, who participated in wearing the LGBTQ+-themed uniforms and cap, said inclusivity was constantly taught to him in his upbringing.
‘It’s one of those things, my parents taught me to love everyone as they are, go live your life, whatever your preferences are, go be you,’ Keirmaier told the Tampa Bay Times.
‘I can’t speak for everyone who’s in here, obviously, but this is a family-friendly environment here at a big-league ball field… We just want everyone to feel welcomed and included and cheer us on. No matter what your views on anything are,’ he added.
The Rays have long been behind its LGBTQ+ fans, even signing an amicus brief in support of the US Supreme Court’s 2015 decision to overturn all state restrictions on same-sex marriage. The franchise has also contributed to the ‘It Gets Better’ project, which aims to combat bullying in schools directed at LGBTQ+ students.
Following mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis vetoed a $35 million project proposed by the Rays to build a spring training facility.
When asked about his decision not to accept the team’s financing for its training center, DeSantis said, “I don’t support giving government cash to professional sports venues.”
‘Companies are free to engage or not engage in whatever discourse they want, but it’s clearly inappropriate to use taxpayer funds to build professional sports stadiums.’ Subsidizing political activism by a private corporation is also inappropriate,’ he added.
The Rays tweeted on May 26 that they were “committed to actionable change and have made a $50,000 commitment to Everytown for Gun Safety’s Support Fund” in the aftermath of the “devastating events that took place in Uvalde, Buffalo, and countless other communities across our nation.”
The group also shared a number of facts and figures about gun violence in the United States via Twitter.
Florida legislators passed a law prohibiting sexual orientation and gender identity instruction in kindergarten through third grade, which DeSantis signed earlier this year.
The true intent of the law, according to critics, is to marginalize LGBTQ people and their families.