When Your Team Doesn't Represent Your City
Bigotry has a way of making even Giants look small.
There is an irony so thick you almost have to laugh.
The San Francisco Giants, the baseball team representing one of the most LGBTQ-friendly cities in the world, found themselves at the center of another manufactured culture war after several players chose to write Bible verses on their Pride Night hats instead of messages celebrating LGBTQ inclusion. They had the choice to not wear the hats at all.
The city that became a refuge when queer people were rejected everywhere else.
The city where generations fought, and died, for the right to simply exist openly.
I’ve visited San Francisco, and it’s one of the only places in the United States where I’ve thought, I could actually live here.
There is something special about it. The neighborhoods. The diversity. The history. The feeling that people are allowed to be themselves.
Which is why this feels so disappointing.
Because these players weren’t just expressing their faith.
They were making a statement on the one night specifically dedicated to welcoming LGBTQ fans into a sport that has not always welcomed them.
Let’s be clear.
No one forced them to stop being Christian.
No one asked them to renounce their beliefs.
The Giants didn’t ask them to wear a rainbow halo or march in a parade.
They were simply participating in a team event saying, “You belong here too.”
Instead, several players chose Bible verses that many people understandably interpreted as a rebuttal to the spirit of Pride Night.
That isn’t neutrality.
It’s a message. The bible has become a political flag.
This is what frustrates me.
The Bible is increasingly being used less as a spiritual guide and more as a political accessory.
It’s become a way of signaling membership in a particular movement.
Not “I love God.”
But, “I oppose what this event represents.”
As a Black person, I can’t separate that symbolism from history.
The same Bible was quoted to justify slavery.
Quoted against interracial marriage.
Quoted against women having equal rights.
And now it is repeatedly quoted against LGBTQ people.
The verses change.
The target changes.
The pattern doesn’t.
Imagine Harvey Milk walking into Oracle Park on Pride Night.
He’d see rainbow flags everywhere.
Corporate sponsorships.
Celebration.
Then he’d see players representing his city choosing that moment to publicly distance themselves from the very community Pride Night exists to honor.
One of the beautiful things about sports is that, for a few hours, strangers sit together cheering for the same team.
Baseball should be one of the few places where a queer kid can wear a Giants jersey without wondering whether the people on the field think they deserve equal dignity.
Pride Night isn’t about forcing agreement.
It’s about saying every fan deserves to feel welcome in the ballpark.
That shouldn’t be controversial!!!
Cities have identities. San Francisco’s identity wasn’t handed to it.
It was built by activists, artists, immigrants, drag queens, AIDS survivors, organizers, and countless LGBTQ people who fought for a place where they could live openly.
That history deserves more than being treated like an inconvenience once a year.
If you’re going to wear “San Francisco” across your chest, you inherit that history too.
You don’t have to agree with every part of it.
But you should at least understand what that city represents.
Because somewhere, Harvey Milk is probably wondering how the team representing his city forgot.