Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon warned Major League Baseball (MLB) that they could face legal consequences for threatening to discipline players who wrote Bible verses on their caps during an LGBT “pride night” game.
The letter pertains to a June 13 game between the Chicago Cubs and the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park in San Francisco. Ahead of the game, several Giants pitchers altered their team-issued rainbow-themed caps by writing references to a Bible verse.
Starting pitcher Landen Roupp inscribed “Gen 9:12-16” on his cap, a reference to the passage in Genesis describing God’s covenant with Noah and the rainbow as its sign. Relievers JT Brubaker and Ryan Walker added similar references. Another reliever, Sam Hentges, wore the team’s standard black cap instead of the Pride-themed version.
Major League Baseball responded by issuing warnings to the players. “The writing on the cap violates our rules, and consistent with normal practice, we have warned the players about future violations,” Pat Courtney, MLB’s chief communications officer, said in a statement.
The league later added further comments after backlash. “To be clear, this routine verbal warning not to wear the hat in future games is not disciplinary and had absolutely nothing to do with the content of the message. We respect players’ right to free expression. However, writing of any kind, with any message, is prohibited per Major League Baseball’s uniform regulations which provides in part that, ‘[a] Player may not write, attach, affix, embroider or otherwise display nicknames or messages on apparel or playing equipment,” the follow-up statement reads.
Three Giants pitchers wore Bible verses on their Pride Night caps during Friday’s game.
MLB has since issued a warning to them. pic.twitter.com/wnhd9UPBJb
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) June 16, 2026
The incident prompted reactions from federal officials. Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon addressed the matter publicly, stating that the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and state labor laws govern such private employer disputes.
“The EEOC and state labor laws govern private employer disputes such as these. Time to lawyer up,” the assistant AG wrote.
Dhillon further explained that it is illegal under federal law to treat employees differently based on religion, a protected characteristic, and suggested examining whether the uniform policy is applied consistently across different types of messages.
In addition, Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) sent a letter to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred seeking detailed information on the league’s policies, past enforcement actions, and any patterns regarding expression on uniforms. Hawley questioned what he described as a potential pattern of selective treatment toward religious messages.
