It was a night where the LGBTQI+ community should be “invited, welcomed and celebrated,” in the words of Tampa Bays Rays President Matt Silverman. However, the 16th Pride evening organized on Saturday by the Florida baseball franchise turned into controversy.
The reason: Five of the MLB team’s players refused to wear the rainbow logo on their jerseys during the game against the Chicago White Sox on Saturday. A decision that echoes that of PSG midfielder Idrissa Gueye, who had refused him to play during the day against homophobia in May.
Unlike the Senegalese international, the Tampa Bay players who wore a classic outfit came to justify their choice, through one of the concerned, Jason Adam. “It’s a tough call because we’ve all said we want them to know everyone is welcome and loved here,” the pitcher said. But by wearing it on their body, I think a lot of guys have decided that it’s a lifestyle that maybe they don’t want to encourage if they believe in Jesus, who encouraged us to live a lifestyle in which one abstains from this kind of behavior, just as Jesus encourages me, as a heterosexual man, to abstain outside the bounds of marriage. It’s no different. »
This is not a judgement, he continued. It’s not contemptuous. It’s just that we believe that’s the lifestyle he encouraged us to live, for our good. But again, we love these men and women, we care about them, and we want them to feel safe and welcome here. »
The other four players to see followed this initiative are Jalen Beeks, Brooks Raley, Jeffrey Springs and Ryan Thompson. Manager Kevin Cash told the Tampa Bay Times that there have been many discussions around the topic, either team-wide or in smaller groups.
A critical choice
But the decision naturally created controversy. St. Louis Cardinals player Jack Flaherty called the defendants’ justification a “big joke.” On social networks, several Internet users were also indignant at the positioning of the five players and the laissez-faire attitude of their franchise.
Florida approved the “House Bill 1557” law at the end of March, nicknamed “Don’t say gay” by its opponents. The text prohibits teaching on gender identity and sexual orientation from primary school, which its detractors see as a means of prohibiting talking about homosexuality.