Several players on the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team angered LGBT+ supporters by refusing to wear the Pride logo on their uniforms.
The irritation came on Sunday when the League Baseball (MLB) baseball team was celebrating its annual “Pride Night” at Tropicana Ballpark for Pride Month.
At least five players chose not to wear the special Pride uniform, Tampa Bay Times reported, citing “religious beliefs” and differences in “lifestyle”.
Choose to speak on behalf of players who refuse to wear the Pride emblem, Jason Adam tells Times: “Much depends on faith, prefer a decision based on faith”.
“But when we put it on our bodies, I think a lot of guys have decided that it’s just a possible lifestyle – not that they look down on anyone or think otherwise – it’s just that maybe they I don’t want to encourage it if we just believe in Jesus,” he said.
Adam went on to explain that it was a “difficult decision” but “[Jesus] encourages us to live a lifestyle that will avoid it, like [he] encouraged me as a heterosexual male to abstain from sex outside the bounds of marriage. It’s no different. ”
While “more than half” of players took part in “Pride Night” wearing rainbow hues, the decision by five Tampa Bay Rays pitchers angered many online. Some argue that this rebuttal undermines the group’s support for the LGBT+ community.
“Can someone please show me the passage from the Bible that says ‘You must not wear a rainbow over your clothes,’” LGBT+ sports journalist Cyd Zeigler wrote.
He continued: “The club has positioned itself not to be in a political battle despite the widespread support of LGBTQ in the team.”
Will, one sportsmanwrote: “Everybody is missing/ignoring (most likely) the larger point these players have managed to rip these colors out of their jerseys in showing the tiniest bit of support for a Historically hated groups don’t do any harm.”
Pride’s uniform features a rainbow-colored Tampa Bays Rays logo on the hat and sleeve of one side and is no different from the LGBT+ pro-LGBT uniforms worn by other sports teams inside and outside the MLB.
In a statement, Tampa Bay Rays president Matt Silverman said, “Our Pride Night continues to grow in both visibility and engagement,” and that “By doing this, we extend our word.” invited not only for this game but for all of our games where the LGBTQ+ Community is to be invited, welcomed and celebrated. ”
The Pride Night celebration was followed by a defeat to the Tampa Bay Rays, who were playing the Chicago White Sox. The other players have been identified as Jalen Beeks, Brooks Raley, Jeffrey Springs and Ryan Thompson, and it is unclear if others chose not to wear Pride uniforms.
The Tampa Bay Rays have long demonstrated support for the LGBT+ community and were the first professional sports team to support same-sex marriage during a brief interview at the Supreme Court, the report said. Florida’s largest baseball team also recently joined the “It Gets Better” campaign to combat bullying in youth sports.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Friday criticized the team for advocating tighter gun control following the deaths of 19 children and two teachers in a mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, and said that he will keep millions of dollars in funding for a training ground.
“Companies are free to participate or not participate in any debate they want, but it is clearly inappropriate to charge taxes to professional sports stadiums,” he told reporters. Karma. It is also inappropriate to subsidize the political activity of a private corporation.”
Republicans this year signed into law a controversial piece of legislation that prohibits LGBT+ issues from being discussed in Florida’s classrooms – widely known as “Don’t Say Gay”.
The Independent is the official publishing partner of Pride in London 2022 and a proud sponsor of NYC Pride.
