Texas Governor Greg Abbott recently praised the Texas Rangers for being the only Major League Baseball team not to host a Pride event in June. The decision angered some Texas voters, many of whom viewed Abbott’s remarks as homophobic.
While commenting on news that the San Francisco Giants held a Pride Night during a recent game, Abbott praised the Rangers. He congratulated the team for choosing to host a Faith and Family Night event instead. According to Abbott, “In Texas, we don’t punish people for living out their faith. We protect that right.”
As reported by Chron, the Rangers are the only MLB team not to adopt the practice, which has become common across the league. The team’s in-state rival, the Houston Astros, has hosted both a Pride Night and a Faith and Family Night since 2021. Despite not holding a Pride event, the Rangers have never officially criticized the LGBT community and reportedly sponsored the 2022 Gay Softball World Series.
Texas Residents Criticize Greg Abbott
Abbott’s remarks were overwhelmingly criticized on Reddit’s r/Texas, where many users believed that both the governor and the Rangers were in the wrong. One user called the governor a “repugnant hater,” while someone else said, “Another ghoul chumming the water for all the [expletive] who think being inclusive to a marginalized group of people is somehow persecuting their religion.”
Other seemingly appalled users said, “It’s almost like you can be Christian and merely coexist with gay people with no issue. But that’s not the version of Christianity they want. They want to hate.” Someone else claimed that “Greg Abbott is always happiest when he is showing everyone how ignorant he is.”
Another Texan cited a recent incident in which Muslims were expelled from a Republican convention, comparing the two situations and suggesting that Republicans are unfair to minorities. Another person chimed in, claiming that “Republicans think about queer people more than queer people think about queer people.”
While it is impossible to know whether the Texas Rangers will begin hosting Pride events anytime soon, it seems likely that criticism of both the team and the governor will continue for the foreseeable future.
