Blake Treinen's quiet Dodgers Pride Night protest is exactly what exacerbates divide

A Dodgers Pride Night wouldn't be a real Dodgers Pride Night without some kind of wrinkle.

Some are bigger than others — we all remember the fuss around the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence — but it always has to be something. Last year, Clayton Kershaw wore the Dodgers' usual Pride Night rainbow logo cap but added a Bible verse emphasizing the rainbow belongs to God on the crown.

This year, Blake Treinen declined to wear the cap at all. On Friday, he was called in to get the last out in the top of the ninth and was the only Dodgers player that day to wear the team's standard cap.

This is anything but surprising to Dodgers fans. In 2023, Treinen and Kershaw were the two most outspoken players about the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence's appearance at Dodger Stadium. Treinen went as far as to release a lengthy (and poorly written) statement.

It's impossible to say that this stunt is surprising or even disappointing for LGBTQ+ Dodgers fans and allies when we're familiar with Treinen's track record and expectations for him were nonexistent in the first place. It was just an unfortunate, if not a little predictable, reminder of something we already know: baseball still has a very long way to go, and it may never get there at all.

To no one's shock, Blake Treinen refused to wear Dodgers Pride Night logo cap

Pride Nights are not mandatory; the Rangers have never had one. Even the Dodgers, who have faithfully staged them for a decade and a half, declined to advertise their Pride Night this year as much as they have in years past. Eagle-eyed fans have noticed that, based on teams' social media activity, this has been mostly true across the league.

In that same vein, teams cannot force their players to wear Pride Night hats — and probably wouldn't, even in the unlikely scenario where they were directed to by the league. Treinen and players like him will always be able to make their gutless "protests" with zero repercussions.

Players like Treinen, the innumerable others who have and will continue to refuse to wear Pride-themed gear, and trolls online will always make it very clear that we are not welcome at ballparks or in fandom spaces, as if a children's game is something that can be gate-kept. It should not be this hard to simply enjoy a sport and have a hobby, but these people insist on making it so.

Queer fans should take that as a challenge. Clearly, the very simple fact our existences is impossible for these people to accept.

So we have to keep showing up. Not to change anyone's mind, because that may be a losing battle, but to insist upon our right to exist in these spaces. If we let ourselves be pushed out, if we let pathetic showings like Treinen's actually affect us, we're doing a disservice to ourselves.

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