Why five Tampa Bay Rays players chose not to wear LGTBQ Pride Month patch

Most sports franchises come together in June, LGBTQ Month, to show their support behind the festivities, including the Tampa Bay Rays. On Saturday, however, a few members of the MLB franchise decided to not participate in all the details that came with the event.

While Tampa Bay was hosting its 16th annual Pride Night celebration at Tropicana Field, the team wore rainbow-themed logos and a rainbow-colored patch on the sleeves of their jerseys. A day later, it was revealed that five players “opted out” of wearing those jerseys and hats during their 3-2 loss to the Chicago White Sox: pitchers Jason Adam, Jalen Beeks, Brooks Raley, Jeffrey Springs and Ryan Thompson.

And their reasons were simply “faith-based”.

Rays welcome all LGTBQ despite jersey choices

Jason Adam shared that 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,” said Adam.

Manager Kevin Cash said the differences won’t cause any division among his team.

“First and foremost, I think the organization has done a really good thing to have Pride Night’s supporting our gay community to come out and have a nice night at the ballpark,” Cash said. “Impressed that our players have had those conversions and we want to support our players that choose to wear or choose not to wear to the best of our capabilities.”

Nearly 20,000 fans attended Saturday’s Pride Night festivities at the ballpark on Saturday.