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By Khaleda Rahman
National Correspondent
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Major League Baseball is facing an investigation over alleged "religious discrimination" after it issued a warning to players who added Bible verses to Pride Night caps.
U.S. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who runs the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, said in a letter to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred that she had referred the matter to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for "further investigation."
Dhillon shared the letter on X on Thursday, writing: "Swing and a miss! Major League Baseball encouraged players to wear 'Black Lives Matter' on their uniforms but reportedly threatened Christians who write Bible verses on their hats."
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She added that the EEOC would "investigate whether this amounts to religious discrimination."
On June 12, several members of the San Francisco Giants added Bible verses or opted not to wear the rainbow-themed caps during the club's Pride Night. MLB warned Giants players that writing on the caps was a violation of league policy. The league added that its issue was not with the content of the respective messages but the act of modifying the cap itself.
Still, the move prompted criticism of the league from conservatives, including Vice President JD Vance and Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri.
Though June has long been recognized as Pride Month, this year's celebrations come amid the Trump administration's push to roll back the rights of transgender people and curtail recognition of diversity, equity and inclusion, while also moving to root out what it calls "anti-Christian bias" in the United States.
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Which Giants Players Added Bible Verses?
Starter Landen Roupp and relievers JT Brubaker and Ryan Walker added Bible verses to their team-issued Pride caps during the Giants' game against the Chicago Cubs during San Francisco's annual Pride Night.
Roupp wrote "Gen 9:12-16" in a silver marker on the front of the black cap, which had the team's classic "SF" logo filled in with colors of the rainbow, long a symbol of the LGBTQ+ community.
The Genesis passage says in part, "I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth," per the New International Version translation.
"It's just about God's covenant and a promise he makes to us and his faithfulness and his mercy," Roupp told reporters afterward.
"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 and express what we want."
Giants reliever Sam Hentges eschewed the Pride-themed cap altogether and wore the club's regular black version with the "SF" in orange.
MLB Cites Rules Against Altering Uniforms
MLB issued two statements in response.
The first noted that writing on the cap violated the league's rules and warned players about future violations.
The league issued another statement on Tuesday to clarify that the "routine verbal warning" had nothing to do with the content of the respective messages but the act of modifying the uniform.
"We have given the same warning numerous times in the past to players for messages such as, 'Dad,' 'Happy Mother's Day, I Love Mom,' and names of family members," the league said.
What Dhillon's Letter Says
Dhillon wrote in the letter that MLB has "warned and/or is considering disciplining three players in the San Francisco Giants who refused to participate in 'Pride Night.' The three players expressed their opposition to MLB's pro-Pride orthodoxy by inscribing Bible verses on their rainbow-colored hats."
She added: "The Civil Rights Act prohibits MLB and its franchises from unreasonably burdening the rights of players with religious objections to serving as the league's vehicle for pro-pride messages. Federal law is clear: employers must modify their uniform requirements to reasonably accommodate their employees' exercise of religion."
The San Francisco Chronicle reported that MLB's warning to the players was based on a rule barring players from altering uniforms, but was not discipline. According to the newspaper, a first violation of uniform regulations draws a warning, a second can lead to a $1,000 fine, and a third can lead to a $5,000 fine.
Conservative Politicians Demand Answers
Hawley wrote a letter to Manfred on Tuesday expressing "grave concern" over the warning to the players.
The Republican senator called the warning "dubious given that MLB is openly promoting a political viewpoint and possibly compelling adherence to that viewpoint" by having Pride-themed uniforms.
His letter included several requests, including a copy of the league's uniform regulations and a list of every instance over the past five seasons in which the league warned, fined or disciplined a player or club under the regulations.
Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway, a Republican, also wrote to Manfred, seeking confirmation by June 25 that the league would not discipline any players who added Bible verses to the themed caps or refrained from wearing them.
"If you fail to respond to this letter and provide the requested confirmation, I will open an investigation to determine whether MLB is violating the religious liberty rights of players and employees in Missouri," she wrote.
Meanwhile Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier launched a formal probe into whether the league is engaging in religious discrimination by selectively enforcing its uniform rules.
“Major League Baseball claims it does not tolerate discrimination based on religion, yet its actions tell a different story,” Uthmeier said in statement issued Friday. “If MLB applauds ideological messages it prefers while reprimanding expressions of Christian faith, that is not neutral rule enforcement—it is religious discrimination that cannot stand in Florida.”
Vance, commenting on a post that mentioned MLB's warning, wrote, "Trump won we don't have to do this anymore."
This article includes reporting by the Associated Press.
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