MLB Targets Christian Players Who Rejected LGBT ‘Pride Night’

Major League Baseball has officially warned San Francisco Giants players who counter-signaled or rejected the team’s LGBT “Pride Night.”

Starting pitcher Landen Roupp on Friday etched a Bible passage found in Genesis onto his Giants cap, right next to the LGBT-themed rainbow logo he was directed to wear. Other players, JT Brubaker and Ryan Walker, followed suit in standing up for their Christian faith, also adding Bible verses. And relief pitcher Sam Hentges refused to wear the rainbow cap altogether, stating, “I don’t morally support it.”

MLB’s chief communications officer Pat Courtney told The Athletic on Monday that these players have been “warned” about “future violations.” He said that writing on the team’s baseball caps “violates our rules.”

The Giants also addressed the Christian players. In a statement ironically about “inclusion,” the team apologized for its players apparently causing “pain and anger to many in the LGBTQ+ community.”

“The San Francisco Giants are proud to support Pride Night and the LGBTQ+ community,” the statement said. “Baseball should be a place where everyone feels welcome, respected, and valued.”

“We also respect that individuals may make personal choices about participating in team activations,” the team continued. “We understand that the choices by individual players have caused pain and anger to many in the LGBTQ+ community and we are sorry for that.”

“Those choices do not change our organization’s commitment to inclusion, belonging, and creating a welcoming environment for all,” the statement closed. “We remain grateful to our fans, partners, employees, players, and coaches who help make Pride Night a meaningful celebration.”

Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images

Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet reacted to the MLB “warning” with his own warning — a sentiment widely expressed online.

“MLB should tread carefully,” he posted. “There’s a lot more us fans that agree with the pitchers than with the league when it comes to pride night propaganda. Let the MLB be warned, not the pitchers. Be careful, MLB.”

MLB should tread carefully. There’s a lot more us fans that agree with the pitchers than with the league when it comes to pride night propaganda.

Let the MLB be warned, not the pitchers.

Be careful, MLB. https://t.co/pCeHh009y5

— Andrew Kolvet (@AndrewKolvet) June 16, 2026

Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham noted that the rainbow symbol is Christian based. “The LGBTQ movement appropriated the rainbow symbol from Christianity. Now Christians are taking it back. Deal with it,” she wrote.

The LGBTQ movement appropriated the rainbow symbol from Christianity. Now Christians are taking it back. Deal with it. https://t.co/i2XmwXeyQR

— Megan Basham (@megbasham) June 16, 2026

Actor Rob Schneider called the MLB “anti-Christian” and said he’d “pay the fines for any [MLB] Christian player who wears a Bible verse on their uniform.”

I will pay the fines for any @MLB Christian player who wears a Bible verse on their uniform.@MLB is ANTI-CHRISTIAN https://t.co/miAT89eXJu

— Rob Schneider ???????? (@RobSchneider) June 16, 2026

As highlighted by The Daily Wire, the Giants’ “Pride Night” was held on Friday. The game was dedicated as a “celebration of Pride and the LGBTQIA+ community” and included “pregame festivities, in-game celebrations, and appearances,” according to the MLB. Same-sex couples renewed their marriage vows on the field in the presence of a drag queen, and the Giants celebrated the LGBT community through rainbow-colored hats, Fox News reported.

Roupp inscribed a Bible passage from Genesis 9 on his cap. The verses describe God’s promise to Noah and all future generations that he would never again destroy the earth with a flood, with the rainbow serving as the sign of that covenant:

And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth, and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” — Genesis 9:12-16

Related: Giants Pitcher Refuses To Hide Christian Faith During Pride Night