Some Rays Players Said No To This During Pride
June is Pride Month, which means you normally see a lot of companies change their logos to rainbow colors to celebrate LGBT rights. The Tampa Bay Rays hosted their 16th annual Pride Night on Saturday against the Chicago White Sox to support the gay community in Tampa/St. Pete, however not everybody was on board.
A few players on the team decided to opt out of wearing the pride logo on their jersey and cap during the game. According to the Tampa Bay Times, at least five Rays baseball players — pitchers Jason Adam, Jalen Beeks, Brooks Raley, Jeffrey Springs and Ryan Thompson — declined to wear the uniforms which featured rainbow logos on the caps and jerseys. This has had everyone talking on social media, even fellow athletes around the league.
Adam spoke for the protesting players stating that the decision wasn’t “judgement based” and that they chose not to wear the rainbow logo because they “Believe in Jesus, who’s encouraged us to live a lifestyle that would abstain from that behavior.” Adam stated that it was a hard decision because “Ultimately, we all said what we want is them to know that all are welcome and loved here.”
Rays head coach Kevin Cash is proud of the Rays organization for hosting important events such as Pride Night to show support for the very active St. Pete LGTBQ community. He is also proud of his players for having difficult conversations like these and still be able to come together as a team.
Kevin Kiermaier, Rays outfielder stated that his parents taught him to “love everyone as they are, go live your life, whatever your preferences are, go be you.”