Last Friday night, three San Francisco Giants pitchers covered their rainbow-decorated caps with Bible verses in protest of the team’s Pride night, and a fourth pitcher refused to wear the rainbow hat. Social media erupted. City officials demanded accountability. 

And somewhere in the outrage, Bay Area liberals lost the plot entirely.

Of course there was widespread anger and indignation at the Giants players. That is justified. San Franciscans are standing up for our queer community and condemning the religion-backed, politically pushed homophobia that is sweeping the nation. I love that for as long as those four players pitch for the Giants, many fans will make them as uncomfortable and unwelcome as they made our queer community.

But our protests of the protest have veered wildly off course. Many have gone beyond criticizing the four players, and are blaming the Giants’ ownership, team manager Tony Vitello, and president of baseball operations Buster Posey for mollycoddling the four pitchers. The Giants, many say, should have forced the players to conform, or kept them out of the game. You pay them a ton of money, dammit, make ’em behave.

Bay Area liberals have apparently forgotten Colin Kaepernick.

In 2016, Kaepernick, then the 49ers’ quarterback, took a knee during the national anthem to protest police brutality. Bay Area liberals stood behind Kaepernick as he faced a withering storm of anger and hate. Donald Trump referred to our quarterback indirectly as an SOB (opens in new tab) and demanded he and his ilk be fired.

We howled back. Peaceful protest is a sacred American right. Remember the Constitution?

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Kaepernick paid the price, blackballed from the NFL at age 29. A year later, A’s catcher Bruce Maxwell took a Kaepernickian knee, and was widely supported here. In 2020, we swelled with pride as Giants’ then-manager Gabe Kapler became the first coach-manager in pro sports to take a knee during the anthem, protesting police brutality in the wake of George Floyd’s murder. Several Giants joined him.

Yay for us, San Francisco! We demand our American right to peaceful protest! 

But now, because we don’t like the message of the four Giants pitchers, we want them shut down and shut up. Suddenly, freedom of speech and religion is null and void?

I don’t consider the Bible a literal book of etiquette for the 21st century, but maybe these players truly do. Should we demand that they repudiate their Bible?

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Here is the Giants’ policy on these matters, explained to me a couple years ago by a high-ranking team official: Players are asked to rock the Pride gear, usually a rainbow-logo cap. If a player is reluctant, a team rep sits down with him and reasons it out: Look, you’re not promoting or celebrating homosexuality, you are supporting a marginalized community of your neighbors and fans. On behalf of your teammates and the organization, you are showing love.

If the player still objects, sigh, so be it. The Giants won’t and shouldn’t — and probably can’t, legally — force them to wear the gear.

“The Giants can & must do better,” Scott Wiener, the state senator and U.S. Senate candidate, wrote on X (opens in new tab). 

Sure. But how? By forcing the protestors to knuckle under — denying the very right to protest that Wiener himself defended when Kaepernick (opens in new tab) exercised it? 

This situation might sort itself out. The four pitchers are now likely to have an uncomfortable relationship with the Giants’ fan base. When their individual contracts and situations allow, they might choose to head on down the road to different teams.

And because this has created such a stir, in the future, players who hold similar religious views who are considering joining the Giants might opt for other teams.

The Giants, meanwhile, should proceed undaunted with their Pride celebrations. Don’t knuckle under to the haters. In fact, double down, add another special celebration: “Until There’s a Cure … for Homophobia.”

And Bay Area liberals? Let’s stay true to our principles.

Scott Ostler is a freelance writer. He retired from the San Francisco Chronicle this year after 33 years as a sports columnist. Email him at [email protected].