Lurie rebukes anti-Pride Giants players even as DOJ investigates team over alleged discrimination

At a press conference last week, Giants President Buster Posey refused to address the controversy, insisting he’d only answer “baseball questions.” On Thursday, Giants President and CEO Larry Baer offered his explanation, telling an interviewer for KBNR, “We take pride in being industry leaders in that effort with the LGBTQ community.”

During an otherwise staid speech at the Alice B. Toklas event, Lurie said he wanted to “acknowledge something.”

“I know for this community, progress has never been a straight line,” the mayor told the crowd of about 550 at the Regency Hyatt on the Embarcadero. “Two weeks ago, Pride Night at the ballpark became something it never should have been.” 

As private citizens, the mayor said, the Giants players are free to practice their faith, “but when you put the uniform on of one of our teams, you represent something bigger than yourself,” he said. “You represent San Francisco. And there is no San Francisco without the LGBTQ+ community.”

The line was met with applause.