‘Ashamed and embarrassed’ is how many Giants fans feel about the team’s Pride Night debacle

The outpouring of responses to my column about their Pride Night debacle underscores the severity of the break this has caused with their fans and the beating the team’s image is taking. To be clear, the break is not just with their gay fans, of which there are legions, but a large chunk of their overall fan base.

The responses are full of feelings of hurt and betrayal, of being embarrassed by the team they have long been proud to support. Many identified themselves as “lifelong fans,” with multiple decades and many generations of fandom. More than 250 people took the time to register their responses and comment on the story. In addition, my email cup runneth over, with more than 100 emails coming in. 

And while, sure, some folks weighing in were firm that the players have the right to express their opinions and should not be “forced” to wear something that conflicts with their religious beliefs, and a few suggested I should be fired, the vast majority were appalled that, on a night meant to celebrate the gay community, four players were allowed to hijack the event.

David: “I am a native San Franciscan. We like to think of ourselves as thoughtful, tolerant and sensitive to the needs of others in our community. We expect our sports franchises to represent and respect the community in which they are doing business.”

Constance: “My family have been decades-long Giants fans — since Candlestick years. We can’t support them now that the organization allowed this outrageous message of hate in our hometown San Francisco.” 

Lisa: “I find the Giants organization’s weak sauce response to the deliberately hurtful stance taken by a few members of the team, very disappointing. Do not sponsor a Pride Night event unless you are prepared to be a full throated champion of the LGBTQIA community. Otherwise, it appears as though it is simply pandering to a demographic to exploit ticket sales.”

Deborah: “You signed a contract to play baseball in a city that is known to be very open and accepting of all people. and then you decide that your faith is more important. That my friend is being a big fat hypocrite.”

Many readers called out manager Tony Vitello and expressed deep disappointment in the team’s overall lack of leadership, citing president of baseball operations Buster Posey and CEO Larry Baer. They noted (correctly) that players could have been told they didn’t have to wear the uniforms but that they wouldn’t be participating in that evening’s game.  

Beck: “This rests on Vitello. He is the leader and should have told his players that if they were going to deface the uniform that he was going to bench them for the game. Instead, he put all four protestors on the mound — the most visible and influential position in the game.”

Dan: “If a player can’t accept that, then give that player a night off and fine them instead of letting them detract from the celebration with their defaced hats.”

Tyler: “… it shows the manager is either complicit or clueless.”

Many noted how proud they have been of the team’s long history going back to AIDS awareness nights begun in 1994 and through their support of the It Gets Better campaign, that advocates for LGBTQ youth, beginning in 2011. They feel the team has betrayed those values.  

Leonardo: “You cannot credibly advocate for mental wellness and inclusion while allowing players to create an environment that makes people feel unwelcome, judged, or targeted.”

Many readers drew a direct line to majority owner Charles Johnson’s massive political support for MAGA candidates and causes. Others noted that there seems to be an erosion of the team’s allyship, like taking money from Chick-Fil-A for foul pole sponsorship, despite the company’s anti-LGBTQ history.

Dick: “This organization is turning increasingly unlikable.”

A few noted that the disrespectful stance took place on the 10th anniversary of the Pulse nightclub shooting, the nation’s deadliest mass murder of LGBTQ+ individuals.

Jack: “The organization is either stupid or does not care. Both of those options are terrible. As a lifelong Giants fan who is not a member of the queer community but is an ally, I feel betrayed and disappointed.”

John: “Regardless of the message it is, and should be, completely against league policy for players to adorn their uniforms in any way.”

Fans were hurt that, while Major League Baseball issued a warning, their own team didn’t do anything but release a “yes, but” statement that many felt was inadequate. And some readers noted their own religious backgrounds and beliefs, saying they were insulted to see the Bible’s message twisted.

Stephen: “Having been raised as an evangelical Christian, knowing I was gay from an early age, and still having a deep love for Jesus and the way He lived and taught us to follow, I realized these guys are just one more example of how the American Christian message has been hijacked.”

David: “Jesus is about love.”

Ray Novotny, who administers a LGBTQ Giants Fans Facebook and Instagram page, sent the team an email, noting: “To many LGBTQ fans, Pride Night is not about politics. It is about belonging. It is about knowing that the team they support recognizes and welcomes them. As someone who has supported this organization for more than four decades, I was left wondering whether the Giants still have the willingness to lead on these issues the way they once did.”

Several local groups, led by Rainbow Families Action, wrote a letter to the team, which in part said, “Many of our children are huge Giants fans. They go to the games and share their joy and support (and their parents’ money) with the team. … In return, our children asked for one day a year that those players return the favor, that they show love and support for who our kids are, with the simple gesture of sporting a rainbow for three hours on a Friday night. But apparently cheering back to our kids was too much.”

The letter noted that the Giants brought gay couples onto the field on Friday to renew their vows, yet then “allowed messages on official Giants uniforms from a group that believes those very marriages are sinful. Does the hypocrisy not register?” 

In many of the messages from fans, there was an overriding feeling of sadness.

Bill: “I never thought I’d feel ashamed of being a Giants fan. But that’s how I feel now. Ashamed and embarrassed.”

The Giants have a problem.

June 17, 2026

Born in San Francisco and raised in Marin County, Ann Killion has covered Bay Area sports for more than a quarter of a century. An award-winning columnist and a veteran of 13 Olympics, several World Cups and the Tour de France, Ann joined The Chronicle in 2012. Ann has worked for the San Jose Mercury News, the Los Angeles Times and Sports Illustrated. She is a New York Times best-selling author, having co-written “Solo: A Memoir of Hope” with soccer star Hope Solo,”Throw Like A Girl” with softball player Jennie Finch and two middle-grade books on soccer, “Champions of Women’s Soccer” and “Champions of Men’s Soccer.” She was named California Sportswriter of the Year in 2014, 2017 and 2018. She has two children and lives in Mill Valley.