Texas Rangers, Atlanta Braves Slammed for Omitting ‘LGBTQ+’ From Their Spirit Day Messages: ‘Disgraceful. Cowardly’

Brandon ContesOct 22nd, 2021, 11:05 am
 

Texas Rangers, Atlanta Braves omit LGBTQ from Spirit Day message

Every Major League Baseball team went on social media Thursday to acknowledge Spirit Day. But two teams were widely criticized for omitting the meaning of Spirit Day (LGBTQ+ awareness) from their messaging.

28 out of 30 teams posted messages similar to that of the New York Yankees below.

Unlike those 28 teams, the Texas Rangers and Atlanta Braves made no mention of LGBTQ+ in their tweets. The Houston Astros also excluded LGBTQ+ from their initial message, but corrected the tweet after some quick backlash.

An anti-bullying message from the Rangers or Braves would have been commended on any other day, but Spirit Day specifically speaks out against bullying LGBTQ+ youth.

Omitting LGBTQ+ from their tweet and focusing on a general “anti-bullying” message was viewed by many as an attempt to hijack the purpose of Spirit Day, similarly to saying “all lives matter” as a way of detracting from Black Lives Matter.

While the Braves did not include ‘LGBTQ+’ in their tweet, they did link to glaad.org/spiritday, giving their social media followers the opportunity to educate themselves. The Rangers did not, writing “Join us in taking a stand against bullying and in support of inclusion,” while sharing a graphic that mentions Spirit Day, but not its purpose.

As ESPN’s Jeff Passan noted, Rangers COO Neil Leibman serves as the chairman of MLB’s diversity, equity and inclusion committee. After losing 102 games during the regular season, the Rangers biggest loss may have occurred on social media Thursday, when they were widely criticized for their Spirit Day tweet.

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