The SF Giants continue to face a public relations fiasco in their hometown and across the nation, even as prominent Republicans have chosen to dig in on the side of the self-described Christian pitchers who decided to score points with MAGA World on Pride Night.

San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie has officially weighed in on the controversy involving four Giants pitchers and the defacement of Pride Night Giants caps. Lurie said, speaking to the Bay Area Reporter Wednesday, "I think a few people made it about themselves and not about the community, and here in San Francisco, the LGBTQ+ community is what makes this city so special. My first thought is, ‘This is why we need Pride Month. We still have a long way to go.’"

Lurie also said that he was "personally really upset, and disappointed" by the players' actions. And when asked if he had reached out the Giants yet, he said he had not, but he added, "I think we should stand up as a city and say that a few people do not represent the values of our city. And I think, you know, I go back and I'd give credit to the Giants, one of the first organizations to have a Pride Night. … There’s a lot of positives there, and let’s build off of that."

Three of the pitchers — starter Landen Roupp, and relievers JT Brubaker and Ryan Walker — wrote a Bible verse on their caps next to the rainbow version of Giants logo. That verse, Gen 9:12-16, has apparently been used in right-wing Christian circles to suggest that God created the rainbow and it doesn't belong to Pride or queer people. A fourth pitcher, Sam Hentges, opted not to wear the cap at all, but to swap it out for a standard cap.

The message being sent was clear enough: "We're on this team but we don't want to be associated with this team's, or this city's, longstanding embrace of LGBTQ+ people and fans." The message was also, pretty clearly, "This is Trump's America now, and we don't have to play along with this Pride Night thing out of political correctness."

Vice President JD Vance summed that up clearly enough when he retweeted a story about the controversy and said, "Trump won, we don't have to do this anymore."

That disgusting and wildly arrogant response is of course in keeping with Trump World and its desire to erase the existence of queer and trans people, full stop, and to reassure a frightened minority that they don't have to accept what they don't understand. These four pitchers are apparently part of the righteous end of that frightened minority, and they surely did not know the shitstorm they were going to stir up, but here we are.

And even though they only got a stern warning from the MLB and haven't faced any fines, SF-born MAGA comedian Rob Schneider has offered to pay the players' fines. Sorry, he tweeted that he and Turning Point USA have offered to pay fines for "ANY player in ANY professional LEAGUE who is FINED by their league for refusing to be FORCED to participate in WOKE LEFTIST AGENDAS, who refuses to wear ridiculous uniforms."

SF Supervisor Matt Dorsey, who is gay and Christian, told the Chronicle this week that he is also disappointed in the players, and he said he was "bothered to see Biblical cherry-picking used to score political points, on a single occasion, and it’s hard to argue this was anything other than that."

The Chronicle's Tony Bravo, a gay SF native and lifelong Giants fan, also wrote an opinion piece about his own shock and sadness. "Homophobia in sports, how original," he writes.

"The action of these players is especially surprising and disappointing given the Giants’ deserved reputation for being ahead of the curve supporting the LGBTQ community," he adds. "If teams are supposed to reflect the culture of their cities, I thought the Giants did a good job at that for many years."

The Giants as an organization still have more to answer for in all this, particularly before winning back the loyalty of their LGBTQ+ fan base — and especially in a season that looks like it will be a disastrous one.

Unless Buster Posey agrees that Trump won and we don't have to like LGBTQ+ fans anymore.

Previously: Self-Described 'Christian' Homophobes In Giants' Bullpen Deface Pride Night Hats