Texas Rangers Still Won’t Join The MLB’s Rainbow Antics

The Texas Rangers are once again the target of leftist media attacks because of the team’s refusal to comply with the LGBT agenda that has infiltrated the MLB.

The Texas team has for years chosen not to participate in the league’s “pride night” campaign, so left-wing media outlets have targeted it every June since 2021. But the Rangers continue to side with their fans’ values despite the mounting pressure. This year, corporate media have again reached a fever pitch about the Rangers’ refusal to celebrate “pride night.”

“The Texas Rangers are frustrating LGBTQ+ advocates as the only MLB team without a Pride Night,” reads an Associated Press headline from June 24. 

Local news stations NBC Dallas-Fort Worth, ABC San Antonio, and NBC Houston also piled on the Rangers by republishing variations of the AP article. But their audiences on X were quick to correct them, flooding the replies with support for the Rangers.

“I have never been more proud to be a 10th generation Texan,” commented user “Dallas Alice.”

“The Rangers better be careful or they might risk selling fewer tickets to… checks notes… double-checks… yes, LGBTQ+ advocates?” wrote X user Dan Edmonson. 

Former Rangers pitcher Derek Holland also spoke out in support of the team. Responding to yet another hit piece from ABC Dallas criticizing the team for being the “only” one without a “pride night,” Holland posted a meme of the team’s mascot with a caption reading, “That’s a Rangers win.”

Fans and players alike are frustrated by these agenda-driven stunts. Most Americans don’t want to be bombarded with virtue signaling or the obligatory celebration of niche sexual behavior while watching the game.

This is why MLB “pride nights” have caused irreparable damage to both the reputation of the league and to the sport itself.

For example, last June, the Los Angeles Dodgers honored the pornographic, anti-Christian drag group “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence” during one of these “pride nights.” The team saw backlash when it brought this group of men, cross-dressed in mockery of nuns and the Christian faith, on the field before a mostly empty stadium.

But many MLB teams like the Yankees are still tone-deaf and continue to push LGBT ideology.

The New York team even has a scholarship program that confers five annual awards to students who “have demonstrated … impactful support for the LGBTQ+ community.”

“Simply put, the Yankees are an ally to the LGBTQ+ community, and Yankee Stadium will always be a place where people can feel safe and encouraged to celebrate who they are,” said Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman in a press release announcing the scholarship awards earlier this month.

But the Rangers abstaining from events like “pride night” sends a powerful message: Not everyone supports this movement.

When pressed about the refusal to host a “pride night,” the Rangers issued a statement to the AP that the team hopes to “create a welcoming, inclusive, and supportive environment for fans and employees” by making “everyone feel welcome and included in Rangers baseball — in our ballpark, at every game, and in all we do.”

This attitude is what the other 29 MLB teams are missing. Baseball is not about making a political statement, but about bringing fans together. 

Baseball has already taken a back seat to football, with only 10 percent of Americans calling it their favorite sport, according to a recent Gallup poll. If the MLB has any hope of restoring its reputation as America’s greatest pastime, it should take a page from the Rangers’ playbook.

Logan Washburn is a staff writer covering election integrity. He graduated from Hillsdale College, served as Christopher Rufo’s editorial assistant, and has bylines in The Wall Street Journal, The Tennessean, and The Daily Caller. Logan is originally from Central Oregon but now lives in rural Michigan.