Rainbow Symbols Should Call Us to Solidarity, Not Division

The Gospel calls Christians to stand in solidarity with other humans, particularly those who society marginalizes, those at the fringes. In a U.S. Catholic essay Catholic pastoral minister and writer Dan Masterton puts forward that Christian assertions that the rainbow cannot be a Pride symbol are particularly un-Christian, because they ignore the gospel calls to solidarity and inclusion.

Masterson asserts:

“When it comes to Pride displays, the rainbow is a beautiful biblical symbol of God’s commitment and love. Some Christians may assert a rainbow should only have a narrower, biblical meaning. However, the reality is that many Christians are LGBTQ+, or are in solidarity with those who are LGBTQ+. Christianity encompasses a diverse range of people, perspectives, and doctrinal interpretations. For Catholics in particular, our biblically-based Catholic social teaching animates us to uphold the dignity and value of all life, from conception to natural death and in all matters of social justice in between.”

Giants’ pitcher Landon Roupp wears the team’s Pride cap with “Genesis 9:12-16” written on it.

But not all Christians see it that way. For  example, this past June the San Francisco Giants  marked Pride night at their stadium by donning hats with a rainbow version of their regular logo. Several of the players wrote a passage from Genesis on their hats to accompany the rainbow, citing “the rainbow as a sign of God’s covenant with Noah following the flood,” implying that this description  invalidated its use as a symbol of LGBTQ+ Pride.

Masterson writes this kind of reaction “can come from uncertainty about whether or not they can support a movement’s goals or ends” or “by resistance to what some perceive as singling one group out for special treatment.”  However, the unwillingness to be preferential to any one group ignores the Christian call to solidarity, which tells us to view every person as a member of our own family, Masterson explains: 

“This [call] proceeds from the truth that God created and loves each of us, and this common identity binds us all together in the human family. Someone with whom we share no identifying traits is just as much our kin as our own blood relatives.

“For those on the fence about whether or not to stand in solidarity with marginalized groups, or those who want to be in solidarity but aren’t certain they agree with the whole of a movement’s goals, the preferential option can be instructive: We are called as Christians to intentionally, specifically consider people who are marginalized or vulnerable in each decision we make individually, communally, and socially.”

Recognizing or including a group of people who society normally excludes, like the LGBTQ+ community, cannot be un-Christian. It is the most fundamentally Christian thing we can do, he asserts.

The players for the San Francisco Giants were not wrong because they professed their Christian faith publically, or because they highlighted scripture, Masterson says They were wrong because they intended to exclude a marginalized group from use of the rainbow. The Christian faith is not under threat, and society does not marginalize Christians. LGBTQ+ people, by contrast, face an array of “social and existential threats.” 

Masterson concludes by saying that standing in solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community can “be a faithful Christian action…an act of solidarity that lives out the call to opt for people facing marginalization. It is a small but intentional choice to stand with people and live out Jesus’ calls for justice.”

—Lynnzee Dick, New Ways Ministry, September 18, 2026