Minor league baseball team cancels Pride Night game after players refuse to wear rainbows
Independent baseball league team forfeits game after players refuse to wear Pride Night jerseys02:58June 18, 2026, 10:17 AM EDT / Updated June 18, 2026, 4:53 PM EDTBy David K. LiMinor league baseball’s York Revolution in Pennsylvania declined to play its Pride Night game Thursday after players refused to wear uniforms that featured a rainbow design, team officials said.
The Revolution’s game against the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs was to have marked the team’s 11th annual Pride Night, but players refused to don special jerseys that had rainbow sleeves.
Thursday night’s game will go down as a forfeit, the Revolution said.
“This decision was not reached lightly,” the team said in a statement.
President and GM Ben Shipley said his manager told him Tuesday that fewer than nine players on the 28-man roster — the minimum needed to fill out a lineup card — were willing to play in Thursday night’s uniforms.
Shipley said the discussion led to an unprecedented team meeting at which he was unable to talk players into wearing the rainbow sleeves.
“I’m disappointed that we’re at this point, and I recognize the players’ plight and their unwillingness to cross their line. I also think tolerance is not acceptance,” Shipley told NBC News on Thursday.
“I was just asking for tolerance from the team, and they were unwilling to navigate that with me.”
The spirit of Pride Night would have been compromised had players been forced to wear uniforms that celebrated the community, the Revolution said.
“Unfortunately, several of our players have refused to wear the scheduled Pride Night jersey and the club decided that hosting the event is more important than forcing players to wear jerseys they are not comfortable with and playing the game,” the team said.
“As a result, and out of respect for the Pride Community and the York community as a whole, the York Revolution has decided that the game on Thursday, June 18 will be forfeited and that Pride Night will continue on as the feature element of the evening at WellSpan Park,” it said.
Other Pride Night events are still set to go on as scheduled at the ballpark free of charge. They include music, fan batting practice and other on-the-field activities, Shipley said.
The team is set to return to action Friday against Southern Maryland.
Team officials criticized their own players for refusing to celebrate the LGBTQ community.
“To be clear; this action by the players is completely inconsistent with our vision as the Most Welcoming Place in York,” according to the team, which donated $10,000 to a local gay community center.
The Revolution and the Blue Crabs are members of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, with teams that are not affiliated with Major League Baseball clubs.
The incident in York unfolded less than a week after four players with the San Francisco Giants staged a silent protest against the team’s Pride Night celebration by writing Bible references on their hats.
After the Giants incident, MLB warned players not to deface their uniforms.
Seven members of the Revolution refused to wear the uniforms at last year’s Pride Night, Shipley said.
“We still played the game,” he said. “We didn’t make a big fuss of it.”
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David K. LiSenior Breaking News Reporter
Ryan Beckler and Jean Lee contributed.Badenoch blasts 'moaning' female Labour MPs over Burnham jobs 'quota'
Kemi Badenoch has told Labour women to earn a job in Andy Burnham's Cabinet instead of demanding they are handed jobs because of their gender.
The Tory leader lashed out today amid reports that female MPs are demanding the de-facto new prime minister introduce a 50:50 gender split 'quota' in his government.
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister also complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts.
But in a scathing article in the Times today Mrs Badenoch told them to 'stop moaning' and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'.
'There are many, many reasons why you shouldn't have any Milibands in the cabinet,' she said.
'But complaining that the boys haven't given them the right jobs or that the boys are taking all the jobs, just shows that Labour's women still don't get it.'
The idea of quotas was also attacked by Baroness Jacqui Smith, Labour's Skills Minister.
Asked by Times Radio if Mr Burnham should reserve jobs for women, she said: 'No, I think what Andy Burnham should be doing is building the very best team around him to change this country.'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband (above, right, in 2010) is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts
But Mrs Badenoch told them to pipe down and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party and seen by the BBC has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs after he succeeds Sir Keir Starmer.
'We are asking you to demonstrate this change from day one and address the toxicity and misogyny within our own party and government,' it said.
Labour has never had a female leader, while the Conservatives have had three, and Mrs Badenoch urged the government to follow its meritocratic example.
'If you run a meritocracy, then you do not have to worry about jobs for the boys,' she wrote.
'Every woman who is a Conservative MP, every woman who has ever won the leadership, has had to fight to get where she is.
'By contrast, Labour women are demanding guarantees from Burnham. But the truth is he doesn't have to give any guarantees.
'If none of Labour's women are prepared to get their hands dirty and challenge him for the leadership, their demands are toothless.'
'In fact, it's quite revealing that the women's parliamentary Labour Party has written to Burnham asking him to commit himself to at least 50 per cent female ministers.
'This has nothing to do with meritocracy. It is yet more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country.'
