A gay minor league baseball player has hit out at players and teams who have said they will not be wearing a rainbow logo during pride month.
Bryan Ruby came out last year while playing in Oregon. He has left the sport to pursue a music career.
According to The Mail Online:
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.
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.’
I can see why Ruby stopped playing and took up singing.
It must be difficult to swing a bat in anger with a massive chip on your shoulder.
He said it’s hard enough to be gay in baseball. The implication is that it’s even harder if teammates don’t wear a pride logo. What a load of bollox. He came out last September. He was roundly praised for it. Nothing changed.
And that’s the rub of it. After grabbing a few headlines and radio interviews, the limelight faded quickly. I suspect it’s all been a bit underwhelming for Ruby since then.
That’s the real issue here, not the pride logo and who chooses not to wear it.
