Christian Baseball Players Protest Pride Night

During the San Francisco Giants’ annual Pride Night game on Friday, a visible protest unfolded among several players on the team. Four of the five pitchers refused to wear the official caps featuring the rainbow-colored team logo, or they wore these caps with handwritten religious messages targeting queer people.

The pitchers Landen Roupp and JT Brubaker, along with reliever Ryan Walker, prominently wrote a reference to a Bible verse from the Book of Genesis on the front of their caps, right beside the rainbow logo. In the verse, God makes a covenant with Noah after the flood and gives the survivor the rainbow as a sign: “My bow I have set in the clouds; it shall be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth,” as stated in verse 13. The quotation stands as a visible pledge from God that the earth will never again be destroyed by a flood. In the Christian conservative community in the United States, this reference is deliberately used to signal that the rainbow should be understood purely as a religious symbol of God—and that queer people are effectively misusing that symbol.

Reliever Sam Hentges went so far as to skip the Pride design altogether and instead wore the team’s regular orange cap. He is the first Giants player since rainbow uniform elements were introduced in 2021 to refuse wearing the Pride cap.

Roupp: Behind the action stood “no hate”

After the game, which the Giants lost 5–1 to the Chicago Cubs, starting pitcher Landen Roupp spoke about the protest. He stressed that there was “no hate” behind it, but that it was simply about “what I stand for.”

The San Francisco Giants have long been considered pioneers in supporting the LGBTQ+ community in Major League Baseball (MLB). They were the first professional team in 2011 to participate in the queer anti-bullying project “It Gets Better,” and in 2021 they became the first MLB team to permanently integrate rainbow colors into their game uniforms for Pride Night, which takes place during Pride Month in June. Since then, nearly all first‑division baseball clubs have established Pride Nights.

The news outlet SFGATE reported that there are plans for protest actions at upcoming Giants games. It also quoted longtime Giants fan William Ferreira, who said: “I think the San Francisco Giants are an institution in San Francisco and a very prominent part of the community here. If you work for the Giants, you have, in my opinion, a duty or obligation to discuss how you represent the people in San Francisco who support the team.”

Gay senator criticizes the players

There was also criticism from Scott Wiener, an openly gay California state senator. He described the Christian players’ protest as particularly underhanded because it occurred on the tenth anniversary of the Pulse nightclub massacre, which left 49 people dead. “To be clear: these players could have cited the rainbow Bible verse on any of the other 364 days of the year,” the San Francisco-based politician wrote on X.

The Giants’ public relations department issued a standard press release in which they did not condemn the players’ apparently anti‑LGBTQ actions: “We understand that the decisions of individual players have caused pain and anger for many in the LGBTQ+ community, and we are sorry. These decisions do not change our organization’s commitment to inclusion, belonging, and creating an inviting environment for everyone.”

MLB warns players

Meanwhile: According to Outsports, MLB leadership warned the three players who had Bible verses on their caps that they could face penalties if they repeat the behavior: “The inscription on the cap violates our rules, and in line with our usual policy we have warned the players about future violations,” MLB spokesperson Pat Courtney told Outsports.

Christian homophobia also in German sports

Christian queerphobia has also appeared in German sports. German national footballer Felix Nmecha shared a transphobic video from an American right-wing extremist (TheColu.mn reported). Because he is a good player, his new club Borussia Dortmund played down the anti‑LGBTQ stance of their star (TheColu.mn reported).

After a strong performance by Nmecha in Germany’s World Cup match against Curaçao, the 25-year-old also posted religious evangelical messages (“Thank you Jesus!”), although without a queer-hostile reference. He was celebrated by the right. The queer-hostile AfD deputy parliamentary leader Beatrix von Storch expressed delight on social media: “German national players in the name of the Lord. Miracles still happen.”