{"id":373071,"date":"2026-06-24T14:54:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T14:54:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/373071\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T14:54:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T14:54:10","slug":"sf-giants-return-home-to-fan-protests-after-pride-night-controversy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/373071\/","title":{"rendered":"SF Giants return home to fan protests after Pride Night controversy"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN FRANCISCO \u2013 Noah Wallace and Matt Foley ordinarily would join the thousands of fans streaming inside Oracle Park to root on the Giants on an idyllic summer night.<\/p>\n

Instead, they stationed themselves at Willie Mays Plaza and held up orange poster boards criticizing the Giants\u2019 handling of a Pride Night cap controversy<\/a> from back on June 12.<\/p>\n

\u201cNO BIGOTS IN SF,\u201d read Wallace\u2019s sign.<\/p>\n

\u201cBAD and BIGOTED,\u201d Foley\u2019s poster echoed.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>A dozen San Francisco Giants fans gathered on Tuesday, June 23, 2026, in Willie Mays Plaza before the game to protest the team\u2019s response to the way four players handled Pride Night caps on June 12. (Cam Inman\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n

They peacefully stood amid a dozen protestors while surrounded by 24 palm trees adorned with rainbow-colored fabric for the ongoing Pride celebration.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe went to 30 games last year and 15 this year, but we\u2019re not planning on supporting the Giants until the team says something more than they\u2019ve said,\u201d Wallace said 30 minutes before Tuesday night\u2019s homestand opener against the A\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Aside from the Giants\u2019 brass couching its comments, much continues to be said by others, from the multiple pitchers who wrote Bible verses on their Pride Night caps nearly two weeks ago, to the U.S. Justice Department and politicians who drew an explanation \u2014 and an alarming accusation against the Giants<\/a> \u2014 from Major League Baseball\u2019s commissioner, Rob Manfred.<\/p>\n

No, a massive protest or boycott didn\u2019t welcome the Giants home after last week\u2019s trip to Atlanta and Miami. But this is still Pride Month. San Francisco\u2019s famous Pride parade is coming Sunday down Market Street. Feelings are still hurt and even scarred within the LGBTQ+ community.<\/p>\n

Terri Hupfer, draped in a Pride flag and a Giants\u2019 issued Pride T-shirt, drove 90 minutes from her Delta home to join Tuesday\u2019s pregame gathering, which was organized online and drew more media and police than defiant (or supportive) fans.
\n\"Protesters,<\/a>Protesters, including Noah Wallace, center, from San Francisco, hold up signs in reaction to San Francisco Giants\u2019 players recently writing on Pride-themed hats, outside of Oracle Park before the San Francisco Giants and the Athletics game in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, June 23, 2026. (Nhat V. Meyer\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI always felt the Giants were a team representing San Francisco, a diverse city with a lot of queers here. I felt the Giants supported them as much as other patrons,\u201d Hupfer said. \u201cThe fact is the Giants administration has not responded at all, other than making a wishy-wash, lukewarm statement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pride Night was one of more than 50 special event nights the Giants schedule for home games every season. The Giants celebrated Mexican Heritage Night on Tuesday, followed by Irish Heritage Night on Wednesday. Jewish Heritage Night is July 7. Sept. 23 is Faith Day.<\/p>\n

The Giants acknowledged after the June 12 Pride Night game that \u201cthe choices by individual players has caused pain and anger to many in the LGBTQ+ community and we are sorry for that.\u201d Specifically, pitchers Landen Roupp and Ryan Walker wrote \u201cGenesis 9:12-16\u201d on their caps, JT Brubaker put \u201cGenesis 9:13-15\u201d on his, and Sam Hentges opted not to wear the Giants\u2019 Pride cap in which the SF logo is embroidered in rainbow-flag colors.<\/p>\n

Roupp said after that night\u2019s 5-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs: \u201cIt\u2019s just about God\u2019s covenant and a promise that he makes to us that his faithfulness and his mercy. It\u2019s just kind of something I believe in, and I stand firm in that. Thankfully, we live in a country where we have the freedom to believe what we want and express what we want.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>A San Francisco Giants pride logo is located in centerfield during the Giants game against the Athletics in the second inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, June 23, 2026. (Nhat V. Meyer\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hupfer said, \u201cIt was such a slap in the face to happen on Pride Night.\u201d<\/p>\n

Giants manager Tony Vitello claimed before the game Tuesday he had \u201cno idea\u201d beforehand about his pitchers\u2019 cap-altering plan.<\/p>\n

Poor communication is what Manfred cited in a letter he wrote to Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, who expressed concern that players were being discriminated against and potentially disciplined<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter the game concluded, my office issued a routine oral warning about the uniform policy violation \u2014 unfortunately it was issued before we became aware of the Giants\u2019 lapse in communication,\u201d Manfred wrote in a letter posted by Hawley on social media. \u201cThe players were neither fined nor disciplined, nor will they ever be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Players have the option of wearing their normal hats rather than a Pride-related cap. Vitello stated Tuesday that his polarizing pitchers \u201clet everybody know here they did receive communication\u201d about uniform options.<\/p>\n

Asked if Manfred presented a fair assessment of the Giants\u2019 communication, Roupp told this news organization Tuesday that he was \u201cnot going to comment on it anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

Buster Posey, the Giants\u2019 president of baseball operations, also declined to elaborate on the organization\u2019s cap stance<\/a>. Surrounded by some 30 reporters in the dugout before Tuesday\u2019s game, Posey insisted he would only answer baseball-related questions after making an initial statement regarding the Pride cap controversy.<\/p>\n

\"San<\/a>San Francisco Giants pitcher Landen Roupp throws to a Chicago Cubs batter during the first inning of a baseball game Friday, June 12, 2026, in San Francisco, Calif. (AP Photo\/Scott Marshall)\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s differing perspectives and out of respect to everybody involved, it\u2019s not something I\u2019m going to revisit,\u201d Posey said. \u201cI understand some fans are upset and frustrated, and I can promise you this is something we\u2019ve talked about a lot internally and will continue to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n

That quote amounted to a \u201cnothingburger\u201d according to one longtime Giants fan, who wore the Giants\u2019 Pride pin and T-shirt and wished to remain anonymous. \u201cI understand he may have been under marching orders not to talk about Pride Night, but I\u2019m very disappointed in ownership and the management team for not making a stronger statement about defacing uniforms and caps,\u201d said the fan, who identified himself as a gay, Christian male living in San Francisco.<\/p>\n

Added Foley: \u201cPosey, Vitello \u2013 there\u2019s no way they didn\u2019t know what\u2019s going on. This leadership team in incapable of keeping the team in check, and on top of that they\u2019re a terrible baseball team.\u201d<\/p>\n

By the time the Giants jumped to a 2-0 lead in Tuesday\u2019s second inning over West Sacramento\u2019s A\u2019s, the protestors had faded from the plaza. Meanwhile, the game went on like business as usual between the former Bay Area neighbors \u2014 a rivalry commemorated at the concession stands with \u201cHighway 80 Series\u201d T-shirts, alongside Pride merchandise.<\/p>\n

\"AA San Francisco Giants pride logo is located in centerfield during the Giants game against the Athletics in the second inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, June 23, 2026. (Nhat V. Meyer\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0
\n\"BaseballBaseball fans mingle outside of Oracle Park before the San Francisco Giants and the Athletics game in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, June 23, 2026. (Nhat V. Meyer\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0
\n\"ProtestersProtesters gather in reaction to San Francisco Giants\u2019 players recently writing on Pride-themed hats, outside of Oracle Park before the San Francisco Giants and the Athletics game in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, June 23, 2026. (Nhat V. Meyer\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0
\n\"Protesters,Protesters, including Noah Wallace, center, from San Francisco, hold up signs in reaction to San Francisco Giants\u2019 players recently writing on Pride-themed hats, outside of Oracle Park before the San Francisco Giants and the Athletics game in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, June 23, 2026. (Nhat V. Meyer\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN FRANCISCO \u2013 Noah Wallace and Matt Foley ordinarily would join the thousands of fans streaming inside Oracle…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":373072,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[2135,184,7,23726,402,181,2434,1334,14827,395,2944,182,101,396,4820,103,102,104,106,105,127,1695],"class_list":["post-373071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-baseball","tag-bay-area","tag-california","tag-giants-hq","tag-inside-sports","tag-latest-headlines","tag-lgbtq","tag-mlb","tag-oakland-athletics","tag-peninsula","tag-photos-and-videos","tag-pm-report","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-county","tag-san-francisco-giants","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news","tag-sports","tag-trump-administration"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=373071"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373071\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/373072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=373071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=373071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=373071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}