Texas Rangers find themselves embroiled in another Pride Month controversy
The team remains the only one in MLB without an evening dedicated to celebrating its LGBTQ+ fans, and this year, there’s an added diss. When the calendar turned to June, the Rangers curiously changed the banner on their website.
For the first two months of the season, the banner read “Run It Back,” in reference to their 2023 World Series win. But on June 1, the banner offered a different slogan: “Straight Up Texas.”
The Rangers responded to the controversy a few days ago, with an exec saying the situation is just a coincidence. “It certainly wasn’t done intentionally or to make some sort of statement. That’s ridiculous,” the person explained.
In fairness to the Rangers, “#StraightUpTX” was the team’s hashtag last year, when they won their first World Series. The club official said the Rangers have four slogans planned for the season, including “Big Bright Stars,” which will make an appearance on the team’s website soon.
Still, it’s hard to ignore the timing. The Rangers’ lack of public support for the LGBTQ+ community stands in stark contrast to organizations across MLB.
The Los Angeles Dodgers threw the first-ever Pride celebration in pro sports nearly 25 years ago, as a makeup call for ejecting two women from the stadium for the crime of kissing on the Jumbotron. The team issued a public apology and donated 5,000 tickets to three LGBTQ+ groups in the area.
Shortly thereafter, the Chicago Cubs hosted their first ever Out at Wrigley event, a community-run LGBTQ+ day at the park hosted by a longtime fan. The Houston Astros, the other Pride Night holdout, hosted their first event in 2021. (Team officials say the promotion is now a driver of “both ticket sales and sponsor revenue.”)
