The Tampa Bay Rays celebrated their 16th Pride Night celebration this weekend at their game against the Chicago White Sox. However, the team may have been encouraging inclusiveness, it did not go over well for everybody in the clubhouse.
Several Rays players, including pitchers Jason Adam, Jalen Beeks, Brooks Raley, Jeffrey Springs and Ryan Thompson declined to wear the special multicolored Tampa Bay logo, opting instead for their everyday ones.
Manager Kevin Cash said the players’ decision had sparked some conversation in the clubhouse.
“I think what it has created is, like, what you’ve heard — a lot of conversation and valuing the different perspectives inside the clubhouse but really appreciating the community that we’re trying to support here,” Rays manager Kevin Cash told the Times.
“A lot of it comes down to faith, to like a faith-based decision,” Adam said, according to the Tampa Bay Times. “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. But when we put it on our bodies, I think a lot of guys decided that it’s just a lifestyle that maybe — not that they look down on anybody or think differently — it’s just that maybe we don’t want to encourage it if we believe in Jesus, who’s 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.”
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Tha rays lost on Saturday and Sunday.
