Apparently, there’s a dress code for American patriotism, and a rainbow Pride flag didn’t make the guest list.
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San Francisco singer Jason Brock discovered that the hard way after bringing a little LGBTQ+ visibility to a Golden State Warriors game. His offense? Waving a rainbow Pride flag while singing the national anthem. You’d think he’d set fire to the basketball court judging by some of the reactions.
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Brock performed “The Star-Spangled Banner” before the Warriors faced the Miami Heat at Chase Center on November 5, during the team’s Pride Night. As he reached the word “proudly,” he pulled a rainbow flag from his jacket and raised it above his head, holding the note as the audience applauded.
The Warriors had a gay National Anthem singer and the players couldn’t stop laughing 💀 https://t.co/L9uQOFLqgi
— BrickCenter (@BrickCenter_) November 6, 2026
It was a celebratory moment that made perfect sense for an evening dedicated to LGBTQ+ visibility. Unfortunately, some viewers seemed to think the flag had committed a crime against the American musical canon.
Jason Brock Didn’t Expect This Much Outrage
The singer later revealed that he had received hundreds of negative messages following the performance. Some critics reportedly accused him of having “destroyed the national anthem” and said he “should not have done that,” according to San Francisco’s KTVU.
Brock also addressed an X post drawing attention to several Warriors players who appeared to be laughing during his rendition.
“Wow I didn’t interpret it like this, but I wasn’t watching the players. Just because they were laughing doesn’t mean it was because of the anthem,” Brock wrote.
Fair enough. Not every facial expression caught on camera needs an entire conspiracy theory attached to it.
More recently, Brock took to YouTube to address the controversy in a video explaining why he waved the Pride flag. He clarified that his intention was to include LGBTQ+ Americans in a moment celebrating the country, not disrespect the national anthem. He also confirmed that the Warriors knew about the planned gesture and had encouraged him to repeat it after seeing his 2024 Giants Pride Night performance.
But the backlash raises a more interesting question: when exactly did waving a Pride flag become incompatible with singing about being proud?
Apparently, Patriotism Has a Rainbow Problem
Here’s the thing about national pride: it doesn’t belong exclusively to people who fit someone else’s idea of what an American should look like.
Gay Americans pay taxes, vote, work, serve their country, support their favorite sports teams, and, yes, sing the national anthem. They don’t suddenly become less patriotic because they happen to bring a rainbow flag into the picture.
Brock wasn’t replacing the American flag or changing the lyrics to make a political statement. He was expressing his identity during a performance at an event celebrating that very identity. If anything, the setting made his gesture particularly appropriate.
And there’s something rather contradictory about celebrating a country while objecting to one of its citizens showing pride in who they are.
The Rainbow Wasn’t New. The Outrage Was.
Brock has actually pulled the same move before. During the San Francisco Giants’ Pride Night in 2024, he also brought out a rainbow flag while performing the national anthem. According to the singer, that performance didn’t generate the same negative response.
In fact, the Warriors reportedly asked him to recreate the gesture after seeing his earlier performance.
The 49-year-old singer, who first gained national attention as a finalist on the second season of The X Factor USA in 2012, wasn’t exactly introducing an unprecedented concept to the arena.
So why did the same gesture suddenly become such a talking point?
The political atmosphere in the United States may have something to do with it. The performance came less than two days after Election Day, when Democrats secured victories in several major races, adding another layer of political tension to an already divided public conversation.
Still, a Pride flag shouldn’t need to pass a political approval process before it can appear at a basketball game.
Sorry, But Gay Americans Are Patriotic, Too
There’s a bigger issue hiding beneath all the angry messages directed at Brock. Too often, LGBTQ+ visibility is treated as something that needs to be justified, even in spaces where inclusion is supposed to be the point.
A Pride Night is meant to celebrate LGBTQ+ people. What exactly is the point of inviting them into the arena if their visibility becomes a problem the moment it moves beyond a rainbow-colored logo or a themed T-shirt?
Nobody has to love every artistic choice an anthem performer makes. That’s perfectly reasonable. But there’s a difference between disliking a vocal performance and acting as though a rainbow flag somehow insults an entire country.
Jason Brock sang the national anthem. He waved a Pride flag. People applauded. The world kept spinning.
If anything, the most American thing about the moment might have been the freedom to express yourself without asking everyone in the arena for permission first.
And if that makes some viewers uncomfortable, perhaps they should sit with that feeling instead of blaming the rainbow.