A day after the Dodgers fally embraced the memory of Glenn Burke — Major League Baseball’s first gay player — a group of Rays players unrcut their team’s Pri Night.
Contents:
- SOME TAMPA BAY RAYS PLAYERS REFED TO WEAR A PRI RABOW, SAY THEY REJECT GAY ‘BEHAVR’
- GAY PRO BASEBALL PLAYER SAYS 'DISCRIMATN AND HATE HAS A VOICE BASEBALL' AFTER TAMPA BAY RAYS PLAYERS REFED TO WEAR PRI NIGHT UNIFORMS
- 'SAD AND FURIATG:' OPENLY GAY PRO BASEBALL PLAYER SPEAKS OUT ON RAYS PLAYERS' STANCE
SOME TAMPA BAY RAYS PLAYERS REFED TO WEAR A PRI RABOW, SAY THEY REJECT GAY ‘BEHAVR’
AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTOn BaseballAn Attempt at Incln Prov There Is More Work to DoA day after the Dodgers fally embraced the memory of Glenn Burke — Major League Baseball’s first gay player — a group of Rays players unrcut their team’s Pri Aguilar/Getty ImagSomethg was missg the top of the eighth ng on Saturday at Tropina Field St. Words like “liftyle” and “behavr” are wily known trop often terpreted as a pole ver for nmng gay Rays held their promotn the day after the Dodgers had honored the memory of Glenn Burke, a former outfielr for the team who was the first major leaguer to have e out as gay, at the team’s LGBTQ+ Pri Night Los Angel.
In 2016, after the mass shootg at Pulse, a gay nightclub Orlando, Fla., the anizatn cut ticket pric for Pri Night and raised $300, 000 for a victims’ month, the Rays joed wh the Yanke to vote their social media feeds for one game entirely to facts about gun vlence the Uned Stat, rather than any rmatn about the game. Yet a number of players on the team refed to wear the rabow or monstrate support for the muny, wh a spokperson sayg they did so based on relig objectns to homosexualy. The statement is chock full of ridiculons, namely: Hidg behd a Christian fah that at s te re actually valu clivy and rejects judgment; Denyg the Pri rabow says very clearly LGBTQ people are not wele; Beg gay is not a ‘liftyle’; And the ia that this cisn is not ‘judgmental’ or that the men are ‘not lookg down’ at LGBTQ people is plete and utter bullsh.
GAY PRO BASEBALL PLAYER SAYS 'DISCRIMATN AND HATE HAS A VOICE BASEBALL' AFTER TAMPA BAY RAYS PLAYERS REFED TO WEAR PRI NIGHT UNIFORMS
Unfortunately, the Rays management approached this differently, allowg homophobia amongst a handful of 20-somethgs to drive the uniforms that some of the players wore.
Bee of club management’s utter failure, and the players allowg their homophobia to dictate their actns, stead of talkg about the strong LGBTQ support that exists Major League Baseball and wh the Rays’ anizatn, all anyone is talkg about om that game is the players who don’t want to support gay “behavr. Do that mean that every sgle player and ach on the teams has renciled their church’s possible doctre wh homosexualy? What should lead to is more open, hont dialogue wh clubho and buildg an environment where people n have disagreements, but where everyone rolls out the red rpet to wele people whether they are Christian, gay, Black, trans, a ary veteran or anyone else.
Bryan Ruby, the only out gay active profsnal baseball player, lled "sad and tratg. After a handful of Tampa Bay Rays players refed to wear rabow-clad uniforms for Pri Night on Saturday, the only out gay active player profsnal baseball said "discrimatn and hate has a voice baseball and you saw Tampa.
'SAD AND FURIATG:' OPENLY GAY PRO BASEBALL PLAYER SPEAKS OUT ON RAYS PLAYERS' STANCE
Ruby, a 26-year-old who has been playg ball sce he was 6, publicly me out as gay durg his 2021 stt on the Salem-Keizer Volno, an pennt team that was once an affiliate of the San Francis had already been out to his iends and fay for five years, but he said took him so long to e out baseball bee he was never able to actively pot to someone Major League Baseball and see someone like him. MLB has never had an out gay active player s 146-year said he was fearful of losg his job when he first me out, though he add that he had begun to proudly don rabow lac his cleats.
"Ruby found Proud To Be In Baseball 2021 alongsi Michael Holland and Sam Culwell — two former baseball players who, rpectively, me out as gay and bisexual while playg and who reached out to Ruby after he me out. He add that he hoped teams would take a step further to "thk more refully about what they n actually do to support the gay baseball players that they have their anizatns that aren't fortable enough yet to reveal who they are. “First and foremost, I thk the anizatn has done a really good thg to have Pri Nights supportg our gay muny to e out and have a nice night at the ballpark, ” Cash said, acrdg to The Associated Prs.
For example, 79% of Black Prottants, 82% of whe male Prottants and 84% of members of The Church of J Christ of Latter-day Sats support laws that would protect gay and transgenr Amerins om discrimatn hog, hirg and public acmodatns, pared to 79% of U. Profsnal baseball player Bryan Ruby, who me out as publicly gay last September, said the cisns of several Tampa Bay Rays players to cle wearg LGBTQ ls on specialized ps on their uniform is a bad look for baseball and an example of why players on current MLB rosters rema closeted. Bryan Ruby, an openly gay profsnal baseball player, is speakg out about the importance of cln after a handful of Tampa Bay Rays players opted out of participatg Pri Night last weekend.