NHL’s move from Pride jerseys “really disappointing,” says attorney

The NHL said this week that its teams will no longer wear special jerseys in support of Pride and other causes during, as they have been doing for some timepregame warm-ups on theme nights starting next season.

That the news came out during the height of Pride festivities was just one problem with the policy change, advocates for more inclusion in sports say.

“It’s a really disappointing decision and it’s really really bad timing,” Harrison Browne, the first transgender athlete in pro hockey, told the CBC News Network on Friday.

The NHL did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.

But NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has indicated the change is because some players refused to wear Pride jerseys, causing a “distraction” that overshadowed the causes those jerseys were supposed to highlight.

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“This way we keep the focus on the game. And on these special nights we’re going to focus on the cause,” Bettman told Sportsnet Thursday.

Teams make special jerseys for those events, although players will not wear them on the ice.

League-wide Pride events

All 32 NHL teams hosted Pride events last season, and most of the players appear to be “a super majority” said a union leader – wore special sweaters.

You Can Play, an organization that has worked with the NHL to improve the representation and inclusion of LGBTQ people, said in a statement that more than 95 percent of players had chosen to “wear a Pride jersey to support the community to support”.

Still, You Can Play chief operations officer Kurt Weaver says he wasn’t surprised that a relatively small group of adversaries could cause “headaches.”

“We’re finding that organizations like the NHL have to make decisions about this — are we going to force players to do this and fight that fight, or are we going to change something here and do something different?”

While disappointed with the league’s decision, Weaver said he was “encouraged” to hear Bettman say Pride nights would continue.

“Last year we had 32 teams do it and hopefully next year we will have 32 teams,” he said, adding that last year set a record for the amount of money raised for LGBTQ causes.

With league-wide promotion of these events and many players taking part in them, the question arises as to why the league pays so much attention to voices that aren’t.

“Why do we listen to the people who don’t want to be inclusive and let their voice… become the dominant narrative?” said Russell Field, an associate professor at the University of Manitoba whose research interests include issues related to sports and social justice.

He said it’s “difficult to imagine another issue where players’ objection would carry the day the way this has,” and that may speak to deep-seated homophobia still present in the culture of men’s hockey.

What about the players and fans?

Like Weaver, Harrison is excited that theme nights continue in the NHL.

But he said the league’s decision to take the special jerseys off the ice also takes away opportunities to share important messages, for many important causes — including those close to the LGBTQ community.

“I think as a young LGBTQ2+ fan, or someone considering hockey, I see one of their role models wearing a shirt that says, ‘I support you, I welcome you, you were admitted here, you’re safe here’ – I think that the opportunity for that will now be erased and I really think it’s a great shame.

Then there are the players, who lose the opportunity to be a role model on the ice and to help spread the messages Harrison describes.

Weaver also pointed out the influence these players can have.

“The visibility of an athlete wearing this on the ice and our heroes wearing this on the ice is tremendous,” he said, adding that this could be especially true for someone at home wondering if he belongs to the sport.