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Five members of the Tampa Bay Rays opted not to wear rainbow-colored patches on their uniforms during the team’s Pride Night over the weekend, causing publicly criticize many people their choice.
Five players cited religious beliefs as why they chose to remove the logo, and Tampa Rays manager Kevin Cash stated that The organization supported the rights of every player To wear or not to wear a logo.
Nick Anderson #70 of the Tampa Bay Rays throws against the Tampa Bay Rays in the ninth inning of a baseball game at Tropicana Field on September 26, 2021 in St. Petersburg, Florida.
(Photo by Mike Carlson/Getty Images)
on Monday, Tampa Bay reliever Nick Anderson Posting a message of support for her teammates on social media, she said that everyone is capable of having “different beliefs”.
“It’s amazing to me that people don’t understand that different beliefs exist,” Anderson posted on Twitter. “And just because you have different beliefs, in some way, shape or form, doesn’t mean you degrade the person or think they are inferior. You can love everyone And there may be different—there may be different beliefs.”
Several players took a break from the organization’s Pride Night logo citing religious reasons
Anderson then made a lengthy statement explaining his position.
Detail of the Tampa Bay Rays Pride Burst logo during a game against the Chicago White Sox on June 04, 2022 in St. Petersburg, Florida.
(Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
Anderson said in a statement, “When I speak of differing beliefs, I’m talking about people who believe that everyone will wear something and that if you don’t, you will get burned. And you are a terrible person or whatever name you want to call them,” Anderson said in a statement. Not that you think those people should get burned and they are terrible people.”
Cardinals pitcher Jack Flaherty slams players who chose to wear the Pride logo
“Not once did I say that I think gay people are not born gay,” Anderson continued. “Or that homophobia was correct.”
One of the pitchers who chose not to wear the patch – Jason Adam – explained the reasoning behind the decision on Saturday.
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“A lot of it comes down to trust, to prefer a faith-based decision. So it’s a tough decision. Because, after all, we all said we wanted to know that everyone is welcome here.” is,” he said via the Tampa Bay Times.
Detail of the Tampa Bay Rays rainbow patterned logo during a game against the Chicago White Sox at Tropicana Field on June 04, 2022 in St. Petersburg, Florida.
(Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
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“But when we put it on our bodies, I think a lot of people have decided that it’s just a lifestyle Maybe – it’s not that they let anyone down or think differently – it’s just that we probably don’t want to encourage it if we believe in Jesus, who taught us to live such a lifestyle . who are encouraged to abstain from that behavior. Like (Jesus) exhort me as a heterosexual man to abstain from sex outside the boundaries of marriage. It’s no different.”
Fox News’ Ryan Gaydos contributed to this report