Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred has come out against a league-wide Pride Month celebration, and in particular, the tradition of special Pride uniforms.
Manfred said he would leave the decision to celebrate Pride at all to the individual teams, according to Washington Post reporter Chelsea Janes, but that the national organization has advised teams against having players wear special uniforms.
“We have told teams, in terms of actual uniforms, hats, bases that we don’t think putting logos on them is a good idea just because of the desire to protect players: not putting them in a position of doing something that may make them uncomfortable because of their personal views,” Manfred said.
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Some players have refused to wear Pride-themed uniforms in the past. Five Tampa Bay Rays players, Jason Adam, Jalen Beeks, Brooks Raley, Jeffrey Springs and Ryan Thompson, refused to wear a uniform with the team’s logo in rainbow colors last year, according to the Tampa Bay Times. Adam told the paper that the decision “comes down to faith.”
“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,” he said.
“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.”
Pride Month 2023 has been a source of controversy as anti-LGBTQ—and particularly anti-trans—sentiments have been stoked by the right wing. The Los Angeles Dodgers famously flip-flopped on whether to include the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence in their Pride Night celebrations.
The 44-year-old queer advocacy group was initially invited by the team to receive a “Community Hero Award.” The Catholic League, along with Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) and other groups, complained that the Sisters’ nuns-in-drag aesthetic mocked their religion, and the Dodgers booted them from the celebration. In retaliation, many other LGBTQ groups pulled out, citing the Sisters’ history of AIDS activism. Faced with the prospect of Pride Night being a bust, the Dodgers reinvited the Sisters to Friday night’s celebration.
While the MLB doesn’t have a league-wide celebration, teams have been celebrating Pride since 2001 when the Chicago Cubs became the first team to hold a “gay day.” The Cubbies started the ball rolling, and now all teams but the Texas Rangers host a Pride Night.
Featured photo by Arturo Pardavila III, via Wikimedia Commons.