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“Discrimination and hate has a voice in baseball and you saw it in Tampa,” the 26-year-old recently toldInsider.
“We have seen a lot of teams selling rainbow merchandise and doing Pride Nights, which is great, but they need to actually support their players,” he continued.
On Saturday, several Rays players elected not to wear rainbow logos for the team’s 16th annual Pride Night at Tropicana Field, per theTampa Bay Times.
Rays pitcher Jason Adam told theTimesthat the decision was a “faith-based” one.
“A lot of it comes down to faith,” he explained to the outlet. “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.”
The 30-year-old told theTimeshe and others did not feel comfortable wearing the rainbow logos because “maybe we don’t want to encourage it if we believe in Jesus.”
“[Jesus] 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 — it’s no different,” he explained to the newspaper.
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He added toUSA Today: “It sends a very clear message, and that message is: LGBTQ people are not welcome here. A lot of guys just don’t get that they’ve always had, and will continue to have, gay teammates. Such antiquated language and behavior actively hurts the team. It’s hard enough to be gay in baseball.”
Though some players did not participate, others on the Tampa Bay roster had no issue proudly donning the rainbow logos on their uniforms, like center fielder Kevin Kiermaier.
“It just shows that we want everyone to feel welcomed and included when you come to Tropicana Field and people are cheering us on,” he toldMLB.com.
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“My parents taught me to love everyone as they are. Go live your life,” Kiermaier added. “Whatever your preferences are, go be you. … We just want everyone to feel welcomed and included and cheer us on.”
source: people.com
