Giants pitchers cited Noah's rainbow on Pride Night. Theologians say they missed the point

The Bible verse that three Giants pitchers scrawled on their game caps to protest Pride Night last week is taken from the tale of the great flood, when God wiped out nearly all life on Earth except for the humans and animals Noah was able to save on his ark.

In the verse, Genesis 9:12-16, God makes a promise to Noah, his descendants and "every living creature" to never again cause such devastation. The rainbow, God says, is a symbol of that promise.

For years, some conservative anti-gay Christians have cited that passage as a sort of "reclaiming" of the rainbow as a religious symbol instead of the LGBTQ standard it has become - and used it a coded protest of LGBTQ rights. The pitchers who used the verse in their protest set off a national firestorm with their actions; team leadership has come under attack for allowing the protest to take place, and Vice President JD Vance weighed in to support the pitchers.

Landen Roupp, a starting pitcher who wrote "Gen 9:12-16" in silver pen on the front of his cap, said there was "no hate at all" in his action. "It's just what I stand for," he said.

But experts in theology and the Bible who support the LGBTQ community said it is incorrect to interpret that verse as endorsing Christian ownership of rainbows. If anything, said several pastors, the verse suggests that the rainbow is God's promise to protect humankind - it's a symbol of safety, peace and God's mercy for everyone, including the LGBTQ community.

"This is what drives me a little nuts about using this (verse) as a protest against Pride," said Kelly Colwell, senior minister of First Congregational Church of Berkeley. "The story is about God saying to people, ‘I will never harm you again like this.'"

But when some conservative Christians reference the verse, "what they're saying is, ‘This symbol is ours, not yours,'" Colwell said.

The idea that this particular verse "could be a refutation to the Pride flag is not one that fits in my worldview," said Laura Jean Torgerson, an associate professor of New Testament at the Berkeley School of Theology. "It just makes no sense."

Conservative Christians opposed to homosexuality have long used the Bible to support their belief that God condemns same-sex coupling, referring to verses that they say both literally and metaphorically back their position. But many biblical scholars, as well as progressive Christians and Jews, interpret those passages differently and believe the Bible states that God has no gripes with consensual and loving queer relationships.

The verse referencing rainbows has been less commonly cited, though.

Conservatives have begun using it to push back on the global phenomenon of the Pride flag, which is an international symbol for LGBTQ rights and community. The flag was designed by San Francisco artist Gilbert Baker, who hand-sewed the first eight-color banner in 1978. The colors, he said, represented joy and inclusivity.

In recent years, the rainbow flag has become a target of protest, with some conservative Americans viewing it as a political statement that does not belong in public spaces like schools. And some conservative Christians have made efforts to claim ownership of the rainbow itself.

"The idea, sort of the presumption, is that God is choosing the rainbow only for certain people," said Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry in Maryland, which promotes inclusion in the Catholic church. But God's love, he said, is for all people, which is even made clear in that verse, in reference to "all living creatures."

"The idea that they're saying ‘except for you' seems to be opposed to the message of this passage," DeBernardo said.

The Giants became the first Major League Baseball team to introduce the rainbow into uniforms during Pride Month in June 2021. The 2026 uniform includes a black cap with "SF" in the colors of the newer Progress Pride flag, which includes pink and light blue in support of the transgender community. In addition to the three pitchers who wrote the Bible verse on their caps, one other player opted not to wear the Pride hat in protest.

Colwell said she believes the players cited the Genesis verse because there aren't actually a lot of references to rainbows in the Bible. "So you don't really have a lot of options for Bible verses if you want to justify why you should have exclusive rights to the rainbow as a symbol," she said.

Genesis 9:12-16 begins after the floodwaters have receded and the surviving humans and animals leave the ark. In one translation, God says, "Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life."

Colwell said that adding rainbows to the team uniforms was an important symbol of respect for a community of queer and transgender people who often have not felt welcome in many spaces, and especially in sports.

"To have some of the players choose a desecration of that symbol - both the Pride symbol and the religious one - is so twisted," Colwell said. "(The rainbow) is meant in the Scripture as a symbol of safety, as a symbol that you will not be harmed here."

The players, she said, "are saying, ‘I don't want to participate in you feeling safe here.' I think that is absolutely counter to the core message of this Scripture."

Torgerson said that deploying the verse in protest on Pride Night - "a place of exceptional safety and belonging" - is "violence against people who have many places in the world where they are not safe and not accepted."

"It's possible that (the pitchers) don't yet know that their faith is one that has room for acceptance - and not even acceptance but celebration - of all the people who don't quite fit the traditional norm," Torgerson said. "I hope they will someday learn more. And if they stay on the team in San Francisco, they might get there."

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This story was originally published June 19, 2026 at 10:40 AM.