(LifeSiteNews) – The U.S. Navy and Major League Baseball (MLB) celebrated LGBT “Pride” on social media but quickly removed associated symbols as the month started – prompting questions about whether they sought to avoid backlash over the issue.
Twitter accounts like “End Wokeness” noted the seemingly abrupt shift, which came amid ongoing controversy surrounding the institutions’ embrace of homosexuality. By June 2, the MLB had reinstated its original logo on Twitter in place of the modified one featuring a rainbow flag behind a baseball player silhouette. The U.S. Navy similarly had a Pride-themed banner photo and profile picture on Twitter but it was gone by June 2. The service’s Instagram profile also lost its pride-themed photo and according to the Daily Mail, individual posts were removed from both its Twitter and Instagram.
The @USNavy quietly removed their LGBTQ+ Pride banner pic.twitter.com/zqsFWHGBcw
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) June 2, 2023
Wow. The MLB just quietly removed their LGBTQ+ Pride logo. pic.twitter.com/LaOkN70pXo
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) June 2, 2023
In a statement to The Hill, the Navy didn’t address the removals but affirmed its interest in so-called Pride Month.
“The US Navy posted graphics in support of the start of Pride month to honor the service, commitment, and sacrifice of the LGBTQ+ Service members and personnel who volunteer to defend our country,” a spokesperson reportedly said. “As we do with all Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute (DEOMI) observance months, we will look for additional opportunities to celebrate the diversity and strength of our Sailors. Members of the LGBTQ+ community serve their country, fully contribute to the DoD mission, and deserve a welcoming environment which enables them to reach their full potential.”
The Los Angeles Dodgers have decided to honor the blasphemous anti-Catholic drag group, the “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence”, with a Community Hero Award on June 16, the Feast of the Sacred Heart.
This blatant contempt for the Catholic faith cannot go unchallenged.
SIGN: The LA Dodgers must revoke their plan to honor these ‘transgender nuns’
The Major League Baseball franchise said it had decided to honor the group — which engages in deliberately offensive sexualized burlesque mockeries of Catholicism — after initially canceling plans to do so when the public expressed outrage.
“After much thoughtful feedback from our diverse communities, honest conversations within the Los Angeles Dodgers organization and generous discussions with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, the Los Angeles Dodgers would like to offer our sincerest apologies to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, members of the LGBTQ+ community and their friends and families,” the statement read.
In one move, you managed to turn off conservatives and slap Christians in the face with disgusting drag nuns. What a disgrace you’ve become. Was recently at a game. Won’t be coming back.
— Courrielche⚡️ (@courrielche) May 23, 2023
The baseball team said it will ask the sacrilegious group “to take their place on the field at our 10th annual LGBTQ+ Pride Night on June 16th.”
SIGN: The LA Dodgers must NOT allow this mockery to take place
The Dodgers’ Monday announcement comes after it previously agreed to dis-invite the group after outrage by Catholics and other conservatives.
Among others, Catholic Vote and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida vocally objected to the decision to honor the so-called “sisters.”
“Given the strong feelings of people who have been offended by the sisters’ inclusion in our evening, and in an effort not to distract from the great benefits that we have seen over the years of Pride Night, we are deciding to remove them from this year’s group of honorees,” the team said in a since-deleted May 17 announcement.
San Francisco’s Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone had previously thanked the Dodgers for their decision to roll back the invitation.
In its Monday statement, after apologizing for temporarily dis-inviting the anti-Catholic hate group, the Dodgers promised to “work with our LGBTQ+ partners to better educate ourselves, find ways to strengthen the ties that bind and use our platform to support all our fans who make diversity part of the Dodgers family.”
Make your voice heard NOW, before this blasphemy takes center stage.
SIGN: The LA Dodgers must not honor anti-Catholic, anti-Christian drag ‘nuns’
Conservatives responded on social media by slamming the baseball team for caving.
“Yes, it is vital that the national pastime honor and support those who mock religion and decency,” reacted Daily Wire co-founder and podcaster Ben Shapiro.
“The Gay Mafia will always extract their payment for ‘protection,’ said Crisis magazine editor-in-chief Eric Sammons.
Some social media users hinted that the team should face the same backlash as beer company Bud Light, which is continuing to endure a massive boycott after its decision to honor transgender-identifying TikTok activist Dylan Mulvaney.
But the Dodgers weren’t always woke and divorced from traditional religious practice.
Former Dodgers great Sandy Koufax, a left-handed pitcher who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in fame in 1972, famously refused to pitch during Game 1 of the World Series because it fell on Yom Kippur, the most important holy day in the Jewish calendar. He previously opted out of games that landed on Passover and Rosh Hashanah.
And Koufax wasn’t alone in living an active faith. Legendary announcer Vin Scully, the “Voice of the Dodgers” for 67 years, was a staunch Catholic. Scully, who passed away last year at age 94, was described by Catholic News Agency’s Jonah McKeown as “a devout Catholic who found in his faith a source of joy and comfort and sought to share it with others through personal kindness and philanthropy.”
As LifeSiteNews previously reported, Scully was devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary and even narrated a two-CD audio recording of the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 2016.
SIGN & SHARE our urgent petition today – do not be silent as the Catholic faith is attacked!
The MLB, meanwhile, reportedly told Newsweek that it always planned to celebrate “pride” on June 1 and that its replacement picture on June 2 was intended to celebrate Lou Gherig Day. It’s unclear why, as of June 3, the MLB’s Twitter photo still lacks a “pride” logo while other entities have continued to keep a pride logo on their profile.
The removal comes amid mounting tension surrounding the two entities’ embrace of LGBT “pride,” as well as multiple boycotts against brands that backed homosexuality and “transgenderism.”
Last month, the Los Angeles Dodgers shocked Americans as news surfaced that the major league team had invited the “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence,” a blasphemous group of drag queens, to receive an award on June 16, the feast of the Sacred Heart.
On Twitter, some suggested the MLB change was evidence that conservatives were scoring wins in the culture war.
Boycott Pride Month is working pic.twitter.com/2GfT3Q3ygX
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) June 2, 2023
Haven’t seen so few corporate Pride logos in years. Bud Lite effect? pic.twitter.com/3qqHamDCpd
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) June 2, 2023
We’re taking June back. https://t.co/SooEon3uJH
— The Columbia Bugle 🇺🇸 (@ColumbiaBugle) June 2, 2023
“Haven’t seen so few corporate Pride logos in years. Bud Lite effect?” asked End Wokeness. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) similarly tweeted that woke companies have “seen the power of conservative boycotts, and they are running scared. . . We are so back!”
Some of the woke companies that turned their logo into pride flags last June haven’t done it yet this time around.
They’ve seen the power of conservative boycotts, and they are running scared.
We are so back!
— Rep. Lauren Boebert (@RepBoebert) June 1, 2023
Bud Light saw a wave of backlash earlier this year after it partnered with gender-confused man Dylan Mulvaney and gave him a beer can with his face on it. The beer’s parent company reportedly lost more $27 billion in value over the course of just a few months. It’s unclear what exactly is behind the drops but they coincide with promotions of “pride” and “LGBTQ” content. Target similarly saw a $9 billion drop amid controversy over its decision to sell pride-themed merchandise, Fox Business reported.
Some professional athletes (e.g. Washington Nationals pitcher Trevor Williams and the Flyers’ Ivan Provorov) have opposed “pride” celebrations but momentum has been building for years as large, multinational corporations continually embraced the secular rainbow and its celebration of homosexuality. According to OutSports, nearly 30 MLB teams had plans to celebrate “Pride Month” in 2023.
A press release for the June 16 event showed the Dodger’s head of marketing suggested “Pride” was part of the team’s core values.
“The Dodgers have always championed diversity and inclusion as core values, and we’re honored to showcase our dedication to fostering an inclusive environment both on and off the field during our tenth annual LGBTQ+ Pride Night,” said Erik Braverman, who serves as senior vice president of marketing, communications, community relations, and broadcasting.
The U.S. Navy, for its part, caught attention this year for using a drag queen as part of its “digital ambassador” program. More broadly, the Defense Department has come under fire for promoting drag shows on military bases. Amid criticism, it announced on Thursday that U.S. military installations would not host drag shows.
“Hosting these types of events in federally funded facilities is not a suitable use of D.O.D. resources,” Sabrina Singh, deputy press secretary, reportedly said.
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Fewer US corporations adopted rainbow themed logos for ‘Pride Month’ this year: Why is that?