St. Louis Cardinals stand by Lance Berkman, say they ‘welcome him back’

The St. Louis Cardinals are doubling-down on their full embrace of Lance Berkman and everything he stands for.

The Major League Baseball team announced that they will host the homophobe at their “Christian Day” at the end of July. Berkman was a central figure in defeating a Houston ordinance that would protect LGBT people from discrimination.

At the time, Berkman said, “To me tolerance is the virtue that's killing this country.”

Let that sink in. TOLERANCE is the virtue that’s killing America. Not hate. Tolerance.

To be clear, that is tolerance of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people he was referring to.

To defend their embrace of an avowed homophobe and transphobe, the Cardinals released this statement on Monday:

The Cardinals have hosted a Christian Day at the ballpark for nearly three decades. The post-game event usually features a well-known keynote speaker (often a former Cardinal or professional athlete) who talks about his or her experience of being a practicing Christian in the public arena. Lance Berkman participated in Christian Day when he was a Cardinals player, and we welcome him back this year to discuss his faith.

As an organization, the Cardinals have always been committed to bringing like-minded groups together to share in the unifying experience of Cardinals baseball. We are an inclusive organization with a social responsibility to be welcoming to all types of people and organizations. We continue to try and reach out to every part of our community, and have hosted a variety of themed events like Christian Day, Jewish Community Night, Catholic Family Night, Bosnian Heritage Night, Fiesta Cardenales, and many others. We are excited to announce that we will be hosting our first Pride Night later this season (details to follow shortly) which will bring members of the LGBT Community together to enjoy Cardinals baseball.

To be super clear, I have no issue with any team hosting a Christian Day, Jewish Night, Muslim afternoon or anything in between. People of every faith need to feel welcome in this country.

What I do have a problem with is one of MLB’s 30 teams using an avowed, outspoken homophobe as their keynote speaker for the day, and promoting him as such.

Tyler Dunnington, the former Cardinals Minor League player who last year came out as gay and talked about hearing anti-gay messages from teammates, has shared his disappointment with the Cardinals’ Berkman invitation.

"I was disappointed in hearing the Cardinals were inviting someone with strong views against the LGBT community to Christian Day,” Dunnington told KMOV. “I don't believe his views represent the organization's. Hopefully, in the future, they will reconsider giving a platform to someone who thinks tolerance is a bad thing."

If there’s one good thing to come from all of this, it’s that the Cardinals are now on record saying they will have an LGBT Community night this season. Just last week they were incredibly wishy-washy, saying “well it might be this year, it might be next, year, who knows.”

Still, I doubt the Cardinals would embrace someone who proactively fought against the civil rights of black people or women. But that’s where we are in some places in America: LGBT people are just sideshow attractions who can spend their money at the ballpark.

“So what if we also host a guy who says you are destroying America?”

The Cardinals should cancel Berkman’s appearance at their “Christian Day.” Nothing short of that — including finding ways for LGBT people to overspend on Cardinals tickets, hot dogs and cocktails — will be good enough.