Left-hander Matt Dermody pitching for the Worcester Red Sox.

The Boston Red Sox recently promoted a pitcher with a homophobic Twitter history to take an open spot in their rotation.

Happy Pride!

Left-hander Matt Dermody, who’s up from Triple-A and slated to start Thursday against the Cleveland Guardians, tweeted an anti-Pride message in 2021.

“#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!,” he wrote, via MassLive.

Though the tweet is now deleted, screenshots remain online. Dermody defended himself in a subsequent reply, tweeting that he’s “not a homophobic [sic].”

Could’ve fooled us!

When asked about this debacle, Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said the veteran journeyman didn’t think he was offending anybody when he said that gay people aren’t going to heaven.

Huh?

“It’s important to us that he had taken the tweet down and important why he had done it,” he 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.”

Though the Red Sox typically perform background checks when new players join the organization, they say they were unaware of Dermody’s anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments, because he deleted the tweets in question.

But a quick perusal through Dermody’s Twitter “likes” shows he has a penchant for amplifying hateful and conspiratorial content. He’s “liked” multiple tweets from MAGA provocateur Charlie Kirk about how drag shows “groom” children.

That ridiculous notion has led to multiple drag bans being passed throughout the country.

Though players are obviously free to hold their own political beliefs, it’s terrible optics for the Red Sox to promote someone like Dermody during Pride Month. The team is scheduled to hold its annual Pride Night June 13.

Pride Nights are about making sure LGBTQ+ people feel comfortable at the ballpark. It’s hard to imagine there are any LGBTQ+ Red Sox fans comfortable with cheering for Dermody, who’s said gay people are going to hell.

But yet, the Red Sox will still try to sell them rainbow hats and paraphernalia.

It’s unfortunate, because the Red Sox have a strong recent history of promoting LGBTQ+ inclusion. Last year, the team even featured drag queens in their pre-game Pride ceremonies.

It’s not hard to figure out whether Dermody would’ve been supportive of their appearance (hint: probably not).

Bloom told MassLive the Red Sox “absolutely” thought about terminating Dermody’s contract when the tweets were discovered. But he says discussions with Dermody propelled them to keep him on the roster.

“Knowing that the tweet had been taken down and not knowing anything else, I don’t think you have enough information to make a decision,” he said. “People do make mistakes. I think it’s important to understand whether they recognize them as mistakes and why.”

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While that’s true, there’s no evidence that Dermody recognizes his mistake, or is taking steps to further educate himself about LGBTQ+ people. Deleting tweets is a cover up. The real work needs to come after the fact.

Insultingly, Bloom says the Red Sox also didn’t release Dermody, because they want to create an inclusive environment for all.

“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,” said Bloom.

That’s a tired and offensive argument. It places the responsibility on LGBTQ+ people to accept somebody who’s openly hostile towards them.

While nearly every MLB team will host a Pride Night this season, stamping out homophobia around the game takes far more effort. All too often, teams take the path of least resistance.

Look no further than the Toronto Blue Jays, who sent out pitcher Anthony Bass in front of their hometown faithful, despite his social media post advocating for consumers to boycott Bud Light and Target. But credit to Blue Jays fans: they booed Bass out of the stadium.

May Dermody suffer a similar fate if he appears next week at Fenway Park. His career 5.33 ERA doesn’t indicate he’ll give fans much to cheer for, anyway.

Scroll down for more reaction to the Red Sox’ Pride Month blunder…

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