It appears that the Major Leauge Baseball Twitter account just quietly removed the “Pride” logo, a rainbow version of their classic batter stance logo, from their Twitter account. The conservative Twitter account “End Wokeness” drew attention to that surprising change, saying, “Wow. The MLB just quietly removed their LGBTQ+ Pride logo.”
Here’s the screenshot End Wokeness provided:
Wow. The MLB just quietly removed their LGBTQ+ Pride logo. pic.twitter.com/LaOkN70pXo
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) June 2, 2023
The MLB claimed, in a statement to Newsweek, that the logo change had nothing to do with conservative boycotts and was instead because the League wanted to recognize Lou Gehrig Day. Newsweek, reporting on that claim, said, “MLB told Newsweek that the organization always planned to recognize the beginning of Pride Month on June 1. Friday marked Lou Gehrig Day, which is celebrated leaguewide, and MLB later updated its profile picture to reflect that ‘as was the intended plan all along.’
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However, it is now after Lou Gehrig Day and the logo is still the non-rainbow version, so the MLB has decided, for now, to not revert to the Pride logo for the rest of June.
In any case, a snippy Twitter battle was sparked in the comments section of End Wokeness’ tweet, with Twitter commenters disagreeing over whether the non-Pride logo reversion was a good or bad thing and some chiming in to say that the MLB is, regardless of its logo colors, still very woke.
BowTiedRanger, for example, said that the MLB’s pro-LGBTQ+ sentiment is “still there” regardless of what the logo looks like and called that sentiment “demonic,” saying, “I can assure you the demonic values are still there.”
On the other side, a seemingly left-leaning account decried the change as being unsopportive of “the LGBTQ+ community” and claimed that support of that community is important, saying, “This is really disappointing news. It’s important for organizations to show support to the LGBTQ+ community, especially in sports, where there is still a lot of work to be done in terms of inclusivity and acceptance.
Another account asked if this logo change is a step in the right direction, asking, “Is this a sign that things are becoming rational and normal again?
” Indian Bronson replied to that tweet as well, calling out the drift toward complacency sparked by minor changes and indicating he thinks this isn’t even an important first step. In his words: “No. Everyone who thinks this was a good idea needs to be removed from institutions. Conservative complacency knows no bounds.”
Another account claimed that other big name accounts did the same thing as the MLB, changing the logo to a rainbow version for a day then switching it right back, saying, “So did several others. They do this every year – put it up for the first day and then change it back overnight. Excellent examples of virtue signaling.” That account then pointed to the US Navy as an example of the one day “Pride” logo switch:
It remains to be seen if the MLB will change the logo back under pressure, try to dodge the issue as the Dodgers deal with their Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence decision, or something else happens.
