Major League Baseball (MLB) is coming under federal investigation for potentially discriminating against San Francisco Giants players who displayed Bible verses on their uniforms during the team’s gay pride celebrations.
Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ), sent a letter to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred on June 18 that said the DOJ will use all available means to hold employers accountable for discrimination and referred the matter to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
The Giants held a “Pride Night” on June 12 in which most players wore caps that infused the colors of the Progress Pride Flag onto the team’s logo, which was advertised as a “celebration of Pride and the LGBTQIA+ community” during a game against the Chicago Cubs.
Starting pitcher Landen Roupp and two relief pitchers wore the caps but wrote Bible verses next to the rainbow-colored logo. Roupp wrote “Genesis 9:12-16,” in which God tells Noah the rainbow is “the sign of the covenant that I am making between me and you and every living creature with you for all ages to come” and promises to never flood the entire Earth again.
The Giants apologized in a statement to the San Francisco Standard, saying the display “caused pain and anger to many in the LGBTQ+ community.” It also prompted an official warning from the MLB to not display handwritten messages in any future games.
The DOJ letter cites an MLB explanation for why the players were warned, reported by NBC News, which said the warning is not disciplinary and “had absolutely nothing to do with the content of the message.” Rather, the MLB cited a rule that prohibits displays of writings and messages on uniforms.
However, Dhillon accused the MLB of having a “double standard” in how it enforces this rule, noting the MLB allowed players to wear “Black Lives Matter” messages in spite of the broad prohibition.
Dhillon’s letter noted that employers cannot legally use “facially neutral” policies as “a pretext for discrimination” and said the selective enforcement “calls MLB’s true motives into question” and raises questions about whether the league is complying with federal civil rights protections. She also cited Supreme Court precedent requiring employers to accommodate religious expression in uniform rules.
“The Civil Rights Act prohibits MLB and its franchises from unreasonably burdening the rights of players with religious objections to serving as the league’s vehicle for pro-Pride messages,” she wrote to the commissioner.
Neither the MLB nor the Giants responded to a request for comment.
Support from archdiocese
The players got public support from the Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco, which was first reported by the New York Post.
Peter Marlow, a spokesperson for the archdiocese, said in statements provided to EWTN News that “people of faith should not be compelled to hide or suppress their sincerely held religious convictions in public life, including in the world of professional sports.”
“In a diverse society, respect should be a two-way street,” he said. “Just as individuals with same-sex attraction deserve to be treated with dignity and free from unjust discrimination, people of faith deserve the freedom to express their beliefs peacefully and respectfully without being presumed hostile or hateful.”
While he said he understands that “some individuals may have been offended,” he added: “We do not believe that a respectful reference to sacred Scripture should be viewed as inherently hurtful or exclusionary.”
Other controversies
This investigation also comes less than one month after the Nationals fired Sean Hudson, its former director of community relations, for saying the team tries to avoid the inclusion of pitcher Trevor Williams in promotional materials because of his strong Catholic faith.
Williams was outspoken against the Los Angeles Dodgers giving a Pride Night award to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence — a group of drag queens who dress like Catholic nuns and mock Catholic symbols and practices, which includes a blasphemous satire of the Mass.
This week, Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colorado, reiterated her call for a DOJ investigation into that incident and questioned a long-standing rule that exempts the league from antitrust regulations. In her June 17 letter, she demanded a response within 10 days to her concerns about alleged patterns of discriminatory behavior from the MLB.
“No private organization, even one granted special legal status, should be permitted to penalize or marginalize Americans for objecting to the public mockery of their faith,” she wrote. “MLB’s privileged antitrust position must not serve as a license for exclusionary practices.”
The Nationals did not respond to a request for comment.
Controversies about pride celebrations have also extended into the minor leagues, with the York Revolution forfeiting a game because some players refused to wear pride-themed jerseys. This team is part of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, which is a partner of the MLB.
The team issued a statement saying the players’ refusal to participate in pride is “completely inconsistent with our vision.” The statement said they decided to cancel the game and host a separate Pride event “out of respect for the Pride community and the York community.”
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