A former MLB player just outed himself as anti-gay and pro-bully.

Veteran infielder Zack Cozart, who played nine seasons in the big leagues before retiring in 2019, expressed his vehement opposition to Spirit Day, which is celebrated in honor of LGBTQ+ youth. Nearly every MLB team acknowledged the campaign on social media.

As part of National Bullying Prevention Month, Spirit Day began in 2010 after a high school student Brittany McMillan created a Tumblr post asking other high school students to wear purple in recognition of the suicide crisis among LGBTQ+ youth. Over the ensuing years, Spirit Day has become the “most visible annual LGBTQ+ anti-bullying campaign in the world,” according to GLAAD.

The Cincinnati Reds were one of the 27 clubs that recognized the occasion. “The Reds join MLB in going purple today in honor of #SpiritDay! We are proud to support LGBTQ youth and speak out against bullying,” the team posted Thursday.

The nice, seemingly innocuous message drew the predictable ire of homophobes, who railed against the Reds and other teams for “subscribing to LGBTQ+ ideology…” or whatever silliness they spout.

And Cozart was one of them.

“This sh*t is getting ridiculous … so sick of it,” he ranted. “how many months and days do we celebrate real heroes of the military? 🤬🤬🤬”

Ah yes, the whole “why don’t we honor the military?!” caterwauling. As many pointed out, the U.S. Armed Forces is arguably the most celebrated institution in the country. Reverence for the military is especially apparent at sporting events, which often begin with special flyovers and other acts of admiration. (In fact, the Pentagon was once scrutinized for spending nearly $7 million to pay for patriotic displays during NFL games.)

Like every pro sports team, the Reds host multiple military appreciation nights (four to be exact) and salute a veteran during the second inning of every home game. They also offer discounts to vets and first responders.

Cozart was apparently unaware of the team’s efforts, despite playing seven seasons in Cincinnati. Maybe when he complains about people ignoring the military, he’s talking about himself?

Longtime baseball analyst Keith Law pressed Cozart on his bigotry.

“All the time, with the anthem, military flyovers, veteran appreciation days, GBA, Memorial Day, teams asking veterans to stand for everyone to applaud, and more. But one tweet about supporting LGBTQ+ youth is too much?,” he posted.

Cozart, in turn, mentioned his opposition towards “sexualizing kids.” 🙄🙄🙄

Another baseball writer, Craig Calcaterra, pointed out that Cozart’s very own background is a picture of… the military being honored at a Reds game.

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MLB’s efforts to honor Spirit Day were especially poignant this year, given Billy Bean’s passing in August. The second MLB player to publicly come out as gay, Bean served as the league’s senior vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion.

After 10 years of his leadership, all but one MLB team now hosts an LGBTQ+ Pride Night. Though there still hasn’t been an active out gay player in MLB, the landscape is more inclusive now.

Some teams even take on queer-coded personas, such as the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets. The Mets actually saved their season with a dominant Pride Month, in which they embraced Grimace and became known as the “Gay Mets.” (And now, they’re in the NLCS!)

The Mets’ opponent in the NLCS, the Los Angeles Dodgers, recently garnered headlines for their very gay, trademark crotch-bump celebration.

Speaking of the playoffs, a sportswriter named Alex Kirshner reminded Cozart of one of his favorite postseason memories. His favorite team, the downtrodden Pittsburgh Pirates, experienced a rare moment of October success against the Reds back in 2013. They ousted Cincinnati in the National League Wild Card Game… and Cozart recorded the last out!

Now that’s the kind of bullying we can get behind. Grab some pine, Zack!

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