SF Giants Players Couldn’t Wear Rainbow Hats Without Writing Bible Verses on Them

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When San Francisco Giants pitcher Landon Roupp took to the mound on Pride Night at the team’s home stadium on Friday, he had Bible verses from Genesis scribbled onto his hat. The verses, per NBC Sports Bay Area, were an apparent reference to the rainbow-colored Giants logo on the Pride cap: Genesis 9:12-16 tells the story of God’s covenant with Noah following the flooding of the world, which includes the Judeo-Christian mythology of the rainbow.

The passage in the New International Version reads in part: “Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.’”

Roupp explained why he wrote the verse on his hat in a postgame interview.

“It’s just about God’s covenant and a promise that he makes to us that, you know, his faithfulness and his mercy," the pitcher said said, per NBC Sports Bay Area. “That’s just kind of something I believe in, and I stand firm in that, and 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."

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Roupp admitted that he had never inscribed the verse on his hat prior to Friday night and attempted to deflect the idea that choosing to do so on Pride Night had anti-LGBTQ+ motivations.

“Kind of what the verse says, you know, the rainbow is a symbol of God’s covenant to us, and us as believers to stand firm in that,” he said. “There’s no hate at all. It’s just what I stand for and what I stand in. I believe in God, and that’s me.”

A reporter then asked Roupp how he would respond if someone from the LGBTQ+ community was offended by the Bible verse inscription on the hat during Pride Night.

“First of all, as a believer, I would push them to read the Bible,” Roupp responded. “I think God has blessed me in so many ways, and I don’t think I would be here right now if it wasn’t for him. So, like I said, there’s no hate in it at all, you know, like I said, we live in a country where you’re welcome to believe what you want. There’s a freedom of speech and stuff like that, so that’s really all I have to say about that. I’m just thankful that God has put me in this situation and that I can go out and share his kingdom.”

Multiple other Giants players wore Bible verses on their caps, as well, per The Athletic. Reliever JT Brubaker included a smaller section of the same verse, “Gen 9:13-15,” while Ryan Walker wore his on the side of his cap, per The McCovey Chronicles, a site dedicated to the San Francisco Giants.

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Brady Klopfer, a producer for The McCovery Chronicles, expressed his disappointment in the Giants’ stunt for the site and specifically called out Roupp for saying there’s “no hate” in his gesture.

“Sure, no hate at all, Landen,” Klopfer wrote. “Just so much insecurity that he couldn’t wear a hat with a few colors on it without having to deface it. Big strong man scared of a little rainbow. The mind can hardly fathom such profound masculinity.”

Klopfer wrote that he never remembered such a stunt happening at prior Pride Nights, further underscoring the cultural feeling that homophobia is so back during the second Trump administration. He called the night “bigoted and embarrassing.”

“On a night meant to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community — which, it goes without saying, is a fairly significant demographic anywhere, but especially San Francisco — the Giants instead sent a message loudly and clearly: not all are welcome (though they’re still more than welcome to spend a few hundred bucks on tickets and overpriced beer, of course),” he wrote.

He added, “The Giants just keep finding ways to embarrass themselves and let us down. Hopefully next time they keep it confined to baseball.”

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