US Civil Rights Commissioners Demand Answers From MLB Over Religious Expression

The commissioners alleged pro baseball enforced uniform rules unevenly—penalizing Christian expression while allowing Black Lives Matter and LGBT messaging.

San Francisco Giants pitcher Landen Roupp throws to a Chicago Cubs batter during the first inning of a baseball game in San Francisco on June 12, 2026. AP Photo/Scott Marshall

Three members of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission are demanding that Major League Baseball (MLB) explain why it warned players for writing Bible verses on Pride Night caps after previously allowing progressive political messaging on uniforms.

The members are raising concerns about allegedly disparate treatment of religious expression, as opposed to other social and political messaging in professional baseball. Specifically, they accused the sports organization of selectively allowing certain ideological messages while restricting religious ones.

The July 8 letter, obtained exclusively by The Epoch Times, is signed by Civil Rights Commission members J. Christian Adams, Stephen Gilchrist, and Peter Kirsanow. They signed the letter addressed to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred in their individual capacities as members of the commission.

The Civil Rights Commission is a fact-finding and advisory body, not a law enforcement agency. It investigates complaints involving discrimination or the denial of equal protection under the law based on race, color, religion, sex, age, disability, or national origin. It also conducts public hearings and publishes reports and recommendations for Congress and the president.

Pride Night Game

During the San Francisco Giants’ Pride Night game celebrating the LGBT community on June 12 against the Chicago Cubs, Giants pitchers Landen Roupp, JT Brubaker, and Ryan Walker displayed references to Genesis 9:12-16 on their team-issued, LGBT rainbow-themed baseball caps. The Biblical passage speaks of God’s sacred vow to Noah and humanity, which is symbolized by a rainbow, according to the letter.

After the game, Roupp told reporters the passage is “just about God’s covenant and a promise he makes to us and his faithfulness and his mercy.”

“Just kind of something I believe in and I stand firm in that and thankfully we live in a country where you know, we have freedom to believe what we want, yeah, and express what we want,” the athlete said.

The letter said the MLB formally warned the players that its uniform regulations generally forbid writing or markings on apparel, saying that the warning was an example of content-neutral enforcement.

MLB chief communications officer Pat Courtney told multiple media outlets after the game that the players’ display of writing on their caps “violates our rules, and consistent with normal practice, we have warned the players about future violations.”

The three commissioners also cited an undercover investigation that they say revealed on May 26 that a Washington Nationals executive said Catholic pitcher Trevor Williams was excluded from some promotions because of his public expressions of faith, including criticism of some groups perceived as hostile to Catholic traditions. The executive was fired after the report.

Uneven Enforcement Alleged

The three commissioners suggested MLB enforcement has been inconsistent, citing examples of other ideological and political messages that have appeared on uniforms after MLB endorsed them.

These messages have included Black Lives Matter patches and initiatives related to United for Change, a campaign for so-called social justice. Player-customized cleats bearing progressive political slogans were also allowed, they said.

“It seems that employees were told they had to display speech with which they disagree and that conflicts with their own religious beliefs, while they are prohibited from displaying religious speech of their own,” the letter reads.

The incidents raise questions under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which forbids employers from discriminating against employees on religious grounds. “This includes failing to reasonably accommodate sincerely held religious beliefs and practices unless doing so would impose an undue hardship,” the letter said.

The letter writers asked Manfred to provide information, including a list of every time since 2020 that MLB or any team has “warned, fined, disciplined, or otherwise addressed players or staff for uniform markings or expressions.”

They asked for any existing directives and training materials regarding the exclusion of players from activities because of their religious beliefs, expressions, or affiliations. They also requested materials related to Pride Night and similar themed events.

“To comply with core civil rights principles and longstanding federal law, MLB must ensure that all players—regardless of their religious or political beliefs—can participate fully without fear of disparate treatment,” the letter states.

Sports Should Be Politics-Free, Adams Says

“Sports is one of the last places in America free from politics,” Adams told The Epoch Times.

“Apparently Major League Baseball lacks awareness that putting rainbows on uniforms to celebrate sexual preferences is politically charged. MLB officials need to get out of Midtown Manhattan more. When those political messages conflict with a player’s religious beliefs, federal civil rights laws are implicated,” he said.

“Forcing professional athletes to adopt and wear messages that are in conflict with the religious beliefs of tens of millions of Americans must end. Let’s get back to the game and quit making sports about political and the ideological battles. Best of all, MLB needs to never again infringe on player religious beliefs with forced speech.”

Separately, on June 16, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter to Manfred asking the sports organization to explain the circumstances surrounding the Pride Night game.

“You must answer for what appears to be a pattern of discrimination within MLB against baseball players who profess their Christian faith,” the lawmaker said.

Hawley accused the MLB of being inconsistent regarding its rule not allowing writing on uniforms. He cited 2020 when “MLB itself turned its uniforms and its fields into a billboard for political and social messages” including jersey patches reading “Black Lives Matter” and “United for Change” and allowing players’ cleats to express progressive viewpoints.

Manfred replied to Hawley in a June 19 letter, saying the three players will not be disciplined, and that MLB previously failed to communicate that wearing Pride Night uniforms and caps was optional for players.

“We agree with the principle that players or other Club employers—at their place of work—should not be compelled to participate in a celebratory event (particularly by wearing something on their person) if such participation would violate their sincere religious beliefs or values,” Manfred said.

On June 18, U.S. Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon also sent a letter to Manfred, alleging possible violation of laws against religious discrimination through the warning to the three players.

She referred the matter for investigation to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

“This double standard—under which players may not inscribe Bible verses on hats for one game only but may wear ‘Black Lives Matter’ patches for one game only—calls MLB’s true motives into question and raises serious concerns about MLB’s compliance with Title VII,” she said in the letter.

She said Title VII prohibits MLB from requiring employees with religious objections to serve as the organization’s “vehicle for pro-Pride messages.”

The Epoch Times reached out to Manfred for comment on the July 8 letter but did not receive a reply by publication time.

Jackson Richman and Dylan Morgan contributed to this report.