Thursday 9 June 2022 02:40 AM Gay minor league slams Tampa Bay Rays players' decision to not wear Pride logo ... trends now
An openly gay minor league baseball player is speaking out against members of the Tampa Bay Rays who refused to to wear LGBTQ colors on their uniforms in honor of Pride month.
Bryan Ruby, 25, came out last year while playing independent ball in Oregon and is currently out of the sport promoting a music career.
Ruby spoke out about five Tampa pitchers - Jason Adam, Jalen Beeks, Brooks Raley, Jeffrey Springs and Ray Thompson - refusing to partake in wearing the one-time uniforms.
'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,' Ruby told USA Today.
Ruby - who founded an activist group called Proud to Be in Baseball and is a 'community advisor' for a group attempting to bring an MLB team to the city of Nashville - added that he feels the pitchers' decision sends a message that people like him are not welcome in baseball.
An openly gay minor league baseball player is speaking out against members of the Tampa Bay Rays who refused to to wear LGBTQ colors on their uniforms in honor of Pride month
Bryan Ruby, 25, came out last year while playing independent ball in Oregon and is currently out of the sport promoting a music career
Ruby founded an activist group called Proud to Be in Baseball and is a 'community advisor' for a group attempting to bring an MLB team to the city of Nashville
'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,' Ruby said
He also took issue with Adam's use of the Bible and Jesus to form his opinion on the matter.
'It always baffles me when guys use Jesus as their excuse to discriminate,' Ruby said, later adding, 'This isn't about religion. This is about being a good teammate. When guys go out of their way to make a point of opposing Pride Night, they're sending a clear message that people like me just aren't welcome in baseball.'
'It's a reminder that even on the one night we get to be proud of ourselves at the ballpark, we are still second-class citizens. It's as simple as that,' he added.
Adam, a reliever who spoke on behalf of the group, said 'a lot of it comes down to faith, to like a faith-based decision.' He also stressed that their decision was not the product of anti-gay discrimination, saying: 'All are welcome and loved here.'
After last weekend's game, Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash said that he and the organization 'want to support our players that choose to wear or choose not to wear to the best of our capabilities.'
On Monday, the 31-year-old Anderson tweeted in support of his teammates, sharing that everyone should be allowed to have different beliefs.
'It’s astonishing to me how people don’t understand that different beliefs exist,' he wrote. 'And because you have different beliefs, in no way, shape, or form does that mean you look down on that individual or think they are lesser. You can love everyone and have differing beliefs.'
Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Nick Anderson tweeted in support of his teammates who didn't wear LGBTQ-issued uniforms in the franchise's 16th annual Pride Night celebration on Saturday, saying that 'you can love everyone and have differing beliefs'
The 31-year-old shared his comments on Tuesday after five of his teammates who opted not to wear LGBTQ colors on their uniforms
Anderson then took a swipe at those 'who are trying to find any little thing to twist and make someone look bad for saying something that they never said' and told them that 'whatever you got going on in your life making you this way, just know that it will all be okay! Much love'
The Tampa Bay Rays shared the custom made uniforms for its Pride Night event on June 4 on social media. Five players on the team refused to wear them, wearing their regular uniforms instead
Anderson followed-up on his comments by sharing a screenshot of a message that he wrote on his iPhone.
'When I say differing beliefs, I’m talking about the people who believe everyone would wear something and if you don’t, you should burn and are a terrible person or whatever name you want to call them,' Anderson shared on Twitter. 'I also was saying that just because you don’t wear maybe a said "patch" doesn’t mean you think those people should burn and are terrible people.'
'I never once said I thought gay people weren’t born gay,' Anderson added. 'Or
