| RICHIE WHITT | Out at Home The Rangers will honor just about everything on the field except gay Pride ... and winning BY RICHIE WHITT losing year on the field, the front office will stubbornly retain its reputation as the last homophobic holdout – the only team in Ma- jor League Baseball to have never hosted a “Pride Night” welcoming its LGBTQIA+ fans. A The Rangers — home to neither winners of a baseball title, nor champions for social diversity. Instead, they smugly remain one of the most intolerant, least inclusive fran- chises in all of professional sports. “It hurts, especially when we see teams around the country – even here in Dallas – being more progressive and hosting Pride Nights,” says Lee Daugherty, owner of Alex- andre’s bar and restaurant in Oak Lawn. “For a community that feels left out anyway, it digs at us a little more. Lots of my friends and customers strongly support the Rang- ers. It’d be nice to finally see a little love back.” The Rangers held an unofficial promo- tion at a game in 2003, inviting community groups such as gay/lesbian volleyball, soft- ball and rugby leagues and the Texas Gay Rodeo Association to attend. The event prompted anti-gay protests outside the gates of The Ballpark in Arlington. That fan pushback, added with the cul- tural constriction of the Bible Belt and staunchly conservative ownership group led by Ray Davis, is motivating the Rangers to — externally, at least — turn its back on fans who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex or asexual. According to a February Gallup poll estimating that 7.1 per- cent of the U.S. population is LGBTQIA+, that means roughly 500,000 people in DFW. Furthermore, Oak Lawn is one of Ameri- ca’s largest and most iconic gayborhoods. Last June, Dallas’ Pride Parade drew spon- sorships from corporate heavyweights Mc- Donald’s, Amazon, Toyota, Geico, American Airlines and Capital One. Other local profes- sional teams — the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, NHL’s Dallas Stars, soccer’s FC Dallas and WNBA’s Dallas Wings — all held Pride Nights in 2022. The Dallas Cowboys, per NFL guidelines, don’t host a specific Pride Game, but in 2014 signed openly gay player Michael Sam. Meanwhile, the Rangers wouldn’t even alter their avatar on Spirit Day, set aside in October to take a stand against the bullying fter 50 seasons of baseball in Arlington, the Texas Rang- ers’ scoreboard is downright embarrassing. Zero prizes. No pride. As the players close yet another lousy, “You think we want to be the only team in baseball not (having a Pride Night)?” said a longtime Rangers employee who wishes to remain anonymous. “It’s embarrassing. We do so many good things, but on this we’re in the stone ages. Unfortunately, it’s way be- yond our control.” Asked for a comment on their stance re- garding LGBTQIA+, the Rangers provided a cut-and-paste statement with no specific mention of the gay community in general or Pride Night in specific. “Our commitment is to make everyone of LGBTQIA+ youths. Last year all 30 MLB teams blasted social-media acknowledge- ment of Spirit Day. The Rangers were the only one to remove LGBTQIA+ from its message. Included in the team’s diluted missive was the its ironically machismo official hashtag: #StraightUpTX. “It’s puzzling,” says Rafael McDonnell, Dallas’ Resource Center senior advocacy policy and communications manager, who initiated a continuing dialogue with the team in 2018. “The Rangers are literally throwing money away. They’re failing mar- keting 101.” Baseball’s Pride tradition started with the Chicago Cubs in 2001. Twenty years later there were only two abstaining teams — both in Texas — until the Houston Astros hosted their “Baseball is for Everyone” Pride Night in June 2021 against, sure enough, their upstate rival. Behind the scenes, there has been prog- ress … small acts of kindness tiptoeing to- ward a bridge between club and community. Last season members of the front office volunteered to help Resource Center with preparations for a Halloween party. Team employees underwent training by MLB Vice President Billy Bean, one of baseball’s two gay players. Texas has provided Resource Center with fundraising items, such as signed memorabilia from catcher Pudge Ro- driguez’s Hall-of-Fame induction. This summer the Rangers were a platinum spon- sor of the Gay Softball World Series, which took place in Dallas and Waxahachie. Club officials participated in the opening ceremo- nies, with former star Michael Young delivering welcome remarks. About 1,000 players, coaches and family associated with the tournament attended the Aug. 30 Rang- ers game against the Astros at Globe Life Field. “It was nice to see,” says Daugherty, whose “Green Sox” was the only team from Dallas to win a trophy in the tournament. “Just need to see more of it. On a bigger scale.” Gay Pride is hard to find for Rangers’ fans. Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images Instead, the Rangers hosted 34 community and theme nights at Globe Life Field this sea- son. They included Whataburger, Game of Thrones, Korean heritage, Stranger Things, White Settlement (the town, not the practice), teachers, military appreciation and two for first responders. None for LGBTQIA+. “His- panic Heritage” got the entire month of Sep- tember. There was indeed a “Pride” Night, but the one in April was merely giving away a bob- blehead of Country Music Hall-of-Famer and long-time Rangers fan Charley Pride. Many in the LGBTQIA+ community re- main insulted at being ignored while the Rangers unearth a staggering number of fringe groups and causes to celebrate. Last month, the team’s Rangers Founda- tion presented five $100,000 checks to local charity groups supporting athletic training for those with physical limitations, school district education, cultural arts, high-risk youth and victims of sex trafficking. Again, the LGBTQIA+ community was shut out. And a couple of times during the season the Rangers transformed GLF’s retractable roof into a revival tent, brandishing their partnership with a Jesus-juiced website by displaying “He Gets Us” on the back of the pitcher’s mound. Make no mistake, batting clean-up in Texas’ dream batting order are heterosexual Christians. Says McDonnell, “We’ve made some progress. But as far as their social media or actually hosting a game, they’re just not for- ward-thinking. It’s like we’re stranded on third base and can’t make it home.” It’s not as if the LGBTQIA+ community is demanding a tsunami of wokeness. Maybe a blingy tweak of the team logo on Instagram once a year, or the momentary catering to those habitually shunned in only one of 81 home games per season. For just one night, rainbows at GLF over the traditional fireworks. Besides, it’s not like there isn’t internal desire to have the team open its doors … and its mind. feel welcome and included in Rangers baseball,” said the statement from the team’s executive vice president of commu- nications, John Blake. “That means in our ballpark, at every game, and in all we do — for both our fans and our employees. We deliver on that promise across our many programs to have a positive impact across our entire community.” In 2020, Rangers minority owner, COO and President of Business Operations Neil Leibman told The Dallas Morning News, “With respect to Pride Night, we reached out to the Resource Center and said what can we do internally. We immediately ad- opted some changes they suggested to be more inclusive in hiring practices. I think that’s more meaningful than just saying ‘OK, we had a Pride Night.’” There are Rangers fans, of course, who applaud the team’s stance. When a Sports Illustrated article broached the topic earlier this season, re- sponses on social media included “we’ll be offended” and “we don’t want sexuality shoved in our face at a sporting event.” Pride Nights typically include a check presentation to a group, an LGBTQIA+ na- tional anthem singer, up-tempo music be- tween innings and lots of rainbow-colored fashion statements. Some, however, seem to fear a Pride Night in Arlington would de- volve into players in assless chaps, porn shoots in the bullpen, managers draped in feather boas and a sexual demonstration of the roles of “pitchers” and “catchers” at ev- ery base. Wrote one SI commenter, “What does someone’s sexual preference have to do with baseball?” The natural retort would be to ask the same of “University of Arkansas Night” or “Star Wars Night.” Another com- menter went a step further, responding “Pride night? Dear Lord. Does that mean they will do “Hetero night”? I want and need to feel included as well.” Said McDonnell of that clichéd what- aboutism, “There are 80 home games a year for straight people. Is that not enough? We can’t have one?” Pressure from fans, employees and so- cial-justice warriors be damned, McDonnell believes an individual or small group at the top of the team’s food chain Rangers’ is tying the club’s hands. “I’ve talked to too many people over there to know this isn’t the prevailing atti- tude,” he said. “This decision to not have a Pride Night is being made by some- >> p12 1 11 dallasobserver.com dallasobserver.com | CONTENTS | UNFAIR PARK | SCHUTZE | FEATURE | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | MOVIES | DISH | MUSIC | CLASSIFIED | CLASSIFIED | MUSIC | DISH | CULTURE | UNFAIR PARK | CONTENTS DALLAS OBSERVER DALLAS OBSERVER MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2014 OCTOBER 6–12, 2022
