The Texas Rangers are MLB’s only team without a Pride Night. That’s unlikely to change

The Rangers, asked a half-dozen questions in an email – including what message the absence of a Pride Night sends to fans and to their own employees who are part of or active allies for the LGBTQ+ community – responded with the following statement:

“Our commitment is to make everyone feel welcome and included in Rangers baseball. 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.”

The statement is the same one that has been provided to multiple media outlets this year. The team added that it was a sponsor of the NAGAAA Gay Softball World Series, which took place in Dallas in 2022, and said it is working on a list of other inclusion initiatives, including anti-bullying and anti-harassment ones. None specifically mentioned the LGBTQ+ community.

“(The silence) is deafening,” said a former employee who was with the organization for roughly a decade. “The fact of the matter is it’s a free marketing opportunity, it doesn’t cost them anything personally and they can boost revenue by looking inclusive. The fact that there hasn’t been one (for Texas), is the biggest ‘actions speak louder than words’ I’ve ever seen.”...

“When you have someone so opposed at the top,” said a current Rangers employee who identifies as gay, “it creates this spillover effect that, even though most of the organization I think wants it to happen, or at least isn’t vehemently opposed to it, it’s just this dark cloud that’s signifying it’s OK to treat this group of people like s—.”