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Matt Dermody went from anonymous to infamous overnight and the Red Sox became the latest example that despite selling rainbow hats and waving pride flags, professional sports isn’t really committed to expelling homophobia.
Dermody is the journeyman pitcher, who the Red Sox will call up from Worcester Thursday to make a spot start against the Cleveland Guardians. He’s also the guy who in 2021 tweeted that homosexuals “will go to hell.”
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If Dermody’s tweets in 2021 had been anti-Black, anti-Hispanic or antisemitic, would he still be getting a paycheck, let alone a start from the Red Sox?
Too often, society and sports still treat homophobic bigotry like it’s somehow softer and less odious than other kinds. Bigots hide behind cherry-picked religious passages to make their hatred seem righteous. Too many of them get passes for it too. Several NHL teams cowardly caved on Pride Nights to shield homophobes in their dressing rooms.
There’s nothing Christian about being anti-gay no matter how many bumper stickers they put on their cars or bible verses they post on social media. Jesus preached loving everybody and not judging anybody. He booted the Pharisees from the temple for the same holier-than-thou attitude that Dermody was spreading. He was ignoring: “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” (John 8:7) Or “Accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us.” (Romans 15:7)
Statistically speaking, Dermody has almost certainly had a gay teammate. Major League Baseball has never had an openly gay player. It’s safe to assume that that’s partially because hypocrites like Dermody, who advertise their devotion to Jesus while ignoring his message, are creating an unwelcoming atmosphere. He didn’t tweet that as a 13-year-old. He was 30 at the time. There’s no just-a-dumb-kid defense here.
The Red Sox said they didn’t know about this when they signed him. Who is doing the vetting if they didn’t find this? He might have deleted the initial tweet, but there is plenty of evidence of it still out there on top of some pretty concerning posts he’s liked.
There are a lot of quotes in Sean McAdam’s extremely well-reported story. None of them include an apology from Dermody. Chaim Bloom said this:
“I talked to him personally about that and what he told me was that it really came down to two things,” Bloom said. “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 didn’t realize that telling a group of people who they love was going to cause them eternal damnation would be hurtful? What’s more absurd: That he really didn’t believe those words would be hurtful or that Bloom really believed him?
Dermody’s full tweet was:
”#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 didn’t say that quietly to a teammate. He posted it publicly and started by hashtagging it “#PrideMonth” which means he wanted people in the LGBTQ community to read it. That hashtag is mostly for celebratory tweets. If he wanted his tweet to cause pain, that’s an effective approach to doing so.
Bloom later added: “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.”
It’s OK to not want bigotry in an organization. Baseball eventually policed what John Rocker believed and the sport was better without him. The Red Sox are still trying to live down their reputation of racism from a former owner who died decades ago. If any team should be extra careful it’s the Red Sox. Instead, they’ve alienated a portion of their fan base over a journeyman pitcher, who could be designated for assignment as soon as Friday.
Follow MassLive sports columnist Matt Vautour on Twitter at @MattVautour424.
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