Trevor Williams, the pitcher for the Washinton Nationals, made headlines when he took to Twitter to call for a boycott of the LA Dodgers. A devout Catholic, Williams was upset that the team had decided to host the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a drag group that wears the garb of nuns to mock Catholicism.
Now, Williams has spoken with EWTN Vatican correspondent Colm Flynn about that decision to call for a boycott and how he felt when making it, saying that he felt he had to do so given his faith and what matters to God.
Beginning, Williams described what it was like to send the message on Twitter, saying that he hit the send button and logged off rather than waiting around to hear the criticism. He then added that many people he has since met thanked him for saying what he said. In his words:
“You know, I hit “send tweet,” and I threw my phone, and I was like, I logged out. And I’m like, we’ll just we’ll see how it does. Let’s see how it does. And, but I’ve had a lot of people come out and reach out to me, former teammates, current teammates, even like stadium workers when we were at Dodger Stadium when the statement was made. Just walking through the tunnels getting to the clubhouse I’ve had, I had stadium workers come up to me and thanked me. So a lot of people have reached out, thanking me for my courage and thanking me for making the statement because a lot of people feel like they either don’t have a big enough voice to say something or they are afraid of the backlash.”
Flynn then asked Williams about the criticism he has faced since he sent out the call for a boycott, noting that while many people have supported him, many others were quiet angry about what he said. As Flynn put it, “Most of the people, if you read through the comments are supporting you. But then there are those who are saying things like homophobic and transphobic. And you just have a problem with that the LGBT group. First of all, what do you say to those accusations?”
Williams, in response, noted that he didn’t say anything anti-“Pride,” but rather called out hypocrisy and how Catholics can be insulted but those doing the horrific insulting cannot be, saying, “In I didn’t say anything anti pride in my statement, I tried to be as charitable as possible. I just, I truly just wanted to point out the hypocrisy that the Dodgers Code of Conduct says, You cannot make fun of a group yet. We’re honoring this group at the expense of making fun of this group.”
Flynn, pressing Williams on that, noted that those who are doing the mocking are making fun of Catholicism, Williams’ faith, asking “…they’re making of your faith correct?”
Williams agreed and noted that that’s what he was calling out, saying, “And the mockery of it. And then the Dodgers not upholding not following their own rules. So that was truly my statement, if you read into it any other way that’s on you.”
Flynn then asked him if he was worried about getting cancelled for what he said, noting that those who stand up to the left for moral reasons tend to but putting their necks on the line when they do so. As he put it: “But were you afraid of the possible ramifications of being canceled? We see people lose everything over a tweet or an opinion that they put online. You were putting your neck out there when a lot of other players are not? Well, you weren’t.”
Williams, in response, said that he wasn’t worried that much about it because of his faith, noting that what God and St. Peter will care about when he’s at the pearly gates isn’t his win-loss record or how many games he played during his career, but rather his faith and if he stood up for Christ. So, instead of being fearful, he stood for Jesus. As he put it:
“I wasn’t necessarily worried because this is something that I believe is truth. Right. And it’s something that this is, this is Trevor, the Catholic man tweeting this. I what, I, what I did, I believe was true, and I had to stick up for our truth. And at the end of the day, baseball is important. And it’s given me a lot of tremendous opportunities. It’s a privilege to play this game, and I’m thankful for everyone has given me an opportunity. But when I die, hopefully in a state of grace and Saint Peter greets me at the gates, he’s not going to ask what your win-loss record was in 2023. He’s just going to how did you you know, how did you build the kingdom of heaven and I just being in a position like this, being a major league baseball player, and my religion being mocked in the realm of Major League Baseball, it only made sense to stick up for my truth.”
Williams also noted that his teammates were supportive of what he said, telling Flynn when asked that “I’ve had really good conversations with teammates about this. Again, people thanking me teammates thanking me for what I could be done what I did. It’s just it’s something that most people and most players are supportive of.”
Watch him here:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video