Though it remained unclear yesterday when NBC Sports Boston reported that Boston Red Sox pitcher Matt Dermody, who’d posted an anti-LGBTQ statement on Twitter back in 2021, would actually be pitching at Fenway Park on the Sox’s Pride Night this coming Tuesday night (NBC Sports reported he was in the lineup to possibly do so), the Sox, with an overall impressive pro-LGBTQ record over the past years, are dealing with some troublesome mixed messaging.
Reports MassLive.com:
Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom acknowledged Wednesday that the organization was aware of a past homophobic tweet from pitcher Matt Dermody, whom the Red Sox plan to start in Thursday’s series finale in Cleveland. Dermody posted a homophobic tweet in 2021 before deleting it, resulting in a meeting with club officials during this past spring training when the Red Sox learned of its existence.
On June 26, 2021, Dermody tweeted: “#PrideMonth. Homosexuals will not inherit the kingdom of God. They will go to hell. This is not my opinion, but the #Truth. Read 1 Corinthians 6:9. May we all examine our hearts, ask Jesus to forgive us and repent of all our sins. I love you all in Christ Jesus!”
Though that tweet has been deleted, screenshots of its existence remain, as well as a reply tweet in which Dermody defends himself, saying: “I am not a homophobic (sic).” The Saitama Seibu Lions, for whom Dermody was pitching at the time, issued a public apology for his remarks on social media.
Although they typically perform background checks when new players join the organization, the Red Sox, who signed Dermody to a minor league deal in late January, were unaware of the tweet at the time of the signing, in part because Dermody has scrubbed it from his account. When the club later learned of the posts at some point during spring training, team officials met with Dermody.
“It’s important to us that he had taken the tweet down and important why he had done it,” Bloom said. “I talked to him personally about that and what he told me was that it really came down to two things. One, he didn’t realize that his words would be hurtful and he didn’t want to hurt anybody and when he realized that they were, he took (the post) down.
“He also understood that it’s not the right use of his platform. He knows he made a mistake tweeting that. That’s why he took it down. Obviously, that doesn’t mean that we endorse anything he said or anything he believes. But the fact of the matter is, if we’re committed to creating an (inclusive) environment, it’s not right for us to police what people believe.
“We do need to expect that everybody here is going to be committed to creating an inclusive and safe environment and so understanding why he had taken the tweet down and that his words were hurtful, and knowing that he doesn’t want to hurt anybody and that he believes in a safe environment, was important here.”
Read the complete MassLive.com story here.
Not a subscriber? Sign up today for a free subscription to Boston Spirit magazine, New England’s premier LGBT magazine. We will send you a copy of Boston Spirit 6 times per year and we never sell/rent our subscriber information. Click HERE to sign up!
