ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Through his role at the Resource Center, one of the Dallas area’s leading LGBTQ+ organizations, Raphael McDonnell occasionally gets to speak to staff members of his beloved Texas Rangers about diversity and inclusion issues.
For many years, the Rangers were the only major league team Without Pride NightWhen asked about this, Texas pointed to its work with organizations such as the Resource Center.
“It’s a complicated relationship,” McDonnell said, “As someone who grew up watching the Rangers and has been going to games since the 1970s, some of my biggest and fondest memories are watching games at old Arlington Stadium with my late grandfather and listening to the games on the radio in my backyard.”
Drag performers pose for a selfie during Pride Night before a baseball game between the Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies in Boston, Tuesday, June 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
“It’s heartbreaking that after all these years this is still an issue.”
McDonnell said he was so distressed last fall that he considered not attending the parade with his girlfriend when the Rangers celebrated their first World Series championship, but ultimately decided to go.
McDonnell, the resource centre’s communications and advocacy manager, says the Rangers asked his group to help develop an inclusion policy about five years ago.
The team volunteers employees in programs for the organization, which was born out of the AIDS crisis of the 1980s and advocates for marriage equality and transgender rights.
McDonnell said he talks with Rangers staff on an ongoing basis but doesn’t remember any conversations since the team’s five-game win over the Arizona Diamondbacks in last year’s Fall Classic.
“I’ve long suspected it was someone quite high up in the organisation who was opposed to this, for reasons never clearly stated,” McDonnell said. “If you’re saying the Rangers aren’t doing anything for the community, which they are, then yes, but the hill they’re camped on is not fit for a Pride Knight.”
Arizona Diamondbacks player Corbin Carroll walks in front of the Diamondbacks logo designed for Pride Nights during the first inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Phoenix, Friday, June 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
A few years ago, MLB diversity officer Billy Beane, who came out as gay after six years as a player, said a Pride Night would eventually be held at Globe Life Field, the Rangers’ retractable-roof home stadium where next month’s All-Star game will be held. MLB did not comment last week when asked about the status of the Rangers’ Pride Night.
McDonnell and DeeJay Johannesen, CEO of the Help Center, an LGBTQ+ organization based in Tarrant County, where the Rangers are based, also said they believe the Rangers will one day join other MLB teams in hosting a Pride Night.
But Mr. McDonnell and Mr. Johannessen said the catalyst for change may need to be new ownership. Mr. Johannessen said he has not requested to speak with majority shareholder Ray C. Davis to discuss Pride.
“I haven’t done it yet because, frankly, I don’t think that’s going to happen,” Johannesen said. “I’d like to meet with Davis and talk about why it’s important, but I don’t think it’s on his priorities right now.”
The Rangers, through a spokesman, declined an Associated Press request to make Davis available for an interview.
The team released a statement similar to that of a year ago, listing the various organizations it sponsors and the steps it had taken internally to “create a welcoming, inclusive and supportive environment for our fans and employees.”
“Our longstanding promise remains the same: to make everyone feel welcome and included in Rangers baseball – at the ballpark, at every game and in everything we do,” the team said. “We deliver on that promise through many programs that positively impact the entire community.”
Despite the Rangers’ stance, Misty Lockhart, who lives near the ballpark and attends about 35 games a year, is also a big Dallas Stars fan and attended the NHL team’s Pride Night at the American Airlines Center in downtown Dallas in March.
Lockhart wore a Tyler Seguin Pride jersey with the number 91 that had been worn in warmups the previous year and signed by the Stars forward, with the Stars logo on the front in rainbow colors.
Lockhart doesn’t believe the Rangers are at risk of losing fans because of their stance on Pride, but he would like to see the Rangers complete the MLB initiative, an initiative that the Chicago Cubs reportedly started in 2001.
“Even if MLB says, ‘We’re not going to be a part of this,’ MLB is in it. And the Rangers chose not to be a part of it,” Lockhart said. “I think the bigger issue is that they chose not to be an active participant.”
Lockhart said he doesn’t see Pride Nights as a political issue, but he acknowledged that having a stadium in the heart of Dallas County, where most elected officials are Democrats, would put more pressure on the Rangers. Tarrant County, home to Arlington and Fort Worth, is generally more conservative.
Will Davis, a Rangers fan from Marble Falls, about 200 miles southwest of the stadium in Central Texas, where he recently attended a game with his son’s youth baseball team, sees it as a political issue.
“I believe this is a private organization, and if they don’t want to do it, I don’t think they should be forced to,” Davis said. “In a situation like this, this is the path people should take as a nation. We don’t want to be forced into being politically left or right. We’re here to have a good time with our friends and family, and that’s fine.”
The Rangers celebrate their Mexican heritage during their June game and also have nights dedicated to other ethnic groups during the season, including Boy and Girl Scouts, first responders, teachers and the military. The team recognizes universities in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and across the state.
These celebrations make the absence even more noticeable, Johannesen said.
“I don’t think the issue here is whether the Rangers lose every game or whether they’re World Series champions,” he said. “The issue is whether Rangers ownership supports having Pride Night.”
“Maybe there’s some deep-rooted belief that they don’t want to do it,” Johannessen said. “We’re very respectful of that, but at the same time, we have to advocate for our community, because it’s kind of a disgrace to the city of Arlington that their team is the only one that doesn’t have a Pride night.”
The Rangers attracted public attention when they changed the slogan on the team’s website homepage from “Run it Back” to “Straight Up Texas” around June 1. The team has always used the slogan “Straight Up Texas” and says the change has nothing to do with Pride Month.
Still, the attention the change garnered on social media speaks to the intense scrutiny the Rangers have attracted as the only MLB team not to hold a Pride Night.
“The Texas Rangers reached out to us wanting to work with us to provide services and volunteers,” said Johannesen, who has provided medical and other services to the LGBTQ+ community for 30 years. “It hasn’t happened yet. When they asked me what I could do, the first thing I said was, ‘Let’s talk about Pride Night.'”
