The Toronto Blue Jays have made headlines during Pride Month by cutting relief pitcher Anthony Bass for not being “pro-LGBTQ2S+” enough. Bass is the first player in major-league history to be DFA’ed for associating himself with traditional biblical morality. While his performance this year was underwhelming, he had a stellar 2022 season and gave a strong performance last month. Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins stated that his performance was the major factor in his release, but “the distraction” of his comments played a role.
On May 29, Bass shared a video on Instagram from a Bible-themed page supporting the boycotts of Bud Light and Target. He apologized and promised to do better, but this was not enough. The last straw came when he tried to explain himself again late last week. Bass’s job was to get three major-league batters out, not to repudiate part of his belief system as a Christian.
The Toronto Star spoke to a bi/pansexual Blue Jays fan who took exception to the notion of it being a mere distraction, stating, “He took down the video because it was a distraction, not because it was a gateway to empowering homophobes to hate on queers?” The Athletic stated that Bass still did not grasp how harmful his actions and words were. According to the Athletic, the eleven days that Bass stayed on the roster after his Instagram post “disappointed and hurt the LGBTQ+ community.”
Bass was scheduled to catch the ceremonial first pitch to open up Pride Weekend on Friday, but he was cut from the team before that happened. The Blue Jays were pulling out all the stops with a rainbow-flag-jersey giveaway, a video feature on a bisexual college baseball player from Ontario, the presentation of an outsize Blue Jays Progress Pride flag on the field, and additional gender-neutral bathrooms. Drag queen Jessie James was singing the national anthem.
The Blue Jays have fully embraced the spirit of pride ideology, including the illiberalism. Atkins stated, “We feel like with his apology and being accountable and taking the steps to become more aware, that we’re one step closer to a more inclusive environment.”
