Lawmakers warned Major League Baseball for threatening players who wrote Bible verses on their caps during “Pride Night.”
June is Pride Month and multiple professional sports teams showed support for LGBTQ+ with signage and campaigns on social media. Other teams required players to wear rainbow jerseys and caps.
One Minor League baseball team canceled a Pride Night game this week after players refused to wear LGBTQ+ rainbow jerseys.
Three San Francisco Giants pitchers, including Landen Roupp and JT Brubaker, wore Bible verses on their ball caps during a Pride Night game against the Chicago Cubs on June 12.
Major League Baseball issued warnings to the players for writing Bible verses on their caps.
“The writing on the cap violates our rules, and consistent with normal practice, we have warned the players about future violations,” Pat Courtney, MLB’s chief communications officer, said in a statement obtained by The Athletic.
“Why would MLB want this problem?”???
Our panel weighs in on MLB’s warning over bible verses on caps. @DanaPerino @jimmyfailla pic.twitter.com/MCrAbka7LK
— America's Newsroom (@AmericaNewsroom) June 18, 2026
When asked why he wrote the Bible verse, starting pitcher Landen Roupp told reporters that it was “just about God’s covenant and a promise that he makes to us.”
“That’s just something I believe in, and I stand firm in that,” he continued. “I’m thankful we live in a country where, you know, we have the freedom to believe what we want … and express what we want.”
The Giants issued an apology acknowledging that the players’ actions may have “caused pain and anger” to the LGBTQ+ community.
The Giants’ statement and apology got the attention of lawmakers and conservative media.
“MLB has a real mess here. It’s not 2020 any more,” Outkick founder Clay Travis tweeted on Thursday.
MLB has a real mess here. It’s not 2020 any more. https://t.co/rxoc64lZCm
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) June 18, 2026
Florida’s Attorney General James Uthmeier tweeted on June 16: “Do you practice religious discrimination in Florida, @MLB? You’ll be hearing from my office soon.” Other Attorney Generals also weighed in on the controversy.
By forcing players to promote political and religious beliefs that they disagree with on pain of discipline, @MLB is betraying a core tenet of American law and civic culture.
I will open an investigation if MLB fails to respond to my letter by June 25. pic.twitter.com/AZqO7UhUWn
— Attorney General Catherine L. Hanaway (@AGCHanaway) June 17, 2026
.@RobSchneider puts the MLB on notice: "Can we make baseball straight again? We have enough gay sports. We've got WNBA, we've got figure skating. We've got cornhole on ESPN. It's literally called cornhole." ?? https://t.co/fw2EemYq3s pic.twitter.com/Wf86SY2rxl
— Andrew Kolvet (@AndrewKolvet) June 17, 2026