Five Tampa Bay Rays pitchers declined to participate in the team’s LGBT activism. At the team’s Pride Night game on June 4, the pitchers chose to wear regular uniforms instead of ones displaying rainbow logo patches.
More than half of the team wore the rainbow logo, while Jason Adam, Jalen Beeks, Brooks Raley, Jeffrey Springs, and Ryan Thompson opted out.
Adam, speaking on behalf of the members who declined to wear the pride patch, said the decision was “faith-based.”
“A lot of it comes down to faith, to like a faith-based decision,” Adam said, according to the Tampa Bay Times. “So it’s a hard decision. Because ultimately we all said what we want is them to know that all are welcome and loved here.”
Adams said he did not want to encourage a lifestyle contrary to what Jesus encouraged.
“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,” he said. “It’s no different.”
Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash said the incident created “a lot of conversation” among team members but did not create any division.
As sports teams increasingly embrace political activism, other players have made similar decisions, such as the Orlando Magic’s Jonathan Isaac and San Francisco Giants pitcher Sam Coonrod, who both declined to kneel in support of Black Lives Matter in 2020.
“A lot went into my decision, and part of it is I thought that kneeling or wearing the Black Lives Matter T-shirt doesn’t go hand in hand with supporting black lives,” Isaac said. “So I felt like I wanted to take a stand on — we all make mistakes, but I think that the gospel of Jesus Christ is that there’s grace for us and that Jesus came and died for our sins.”
The Tampa Bay Rays pitchers won’t be applauded for standing up for their beliefs by the crowd supposedly committed to inclusion and self-expression. What they did is still respectable. It’s no easy task to hold on to your convictions amid pressure from your employer, teammates, fans, and the media.
Exercising First Amendment rights shouldn’t come with professional consequences, but many do take that risk when speaking out. When the women’s national soccer team adopted a rainbow jersey for Pride Month in 2017, Jaelene Hinkle chose to withdraw from two matches rather than wear it.
As organizations from major corporations to the police force and the Marines engage in LGBT activism, it creates a decision those with similar religious beliefs will need to make. The Tampa Bay Rays pitchers set a good example. Respectfully decline and clearly articulate the reason for doing so when asked.
Katelynn Richardson is a summer 2022 Washington Examiner fellow.
