On October 11, 2023, the National Hockey League banned players from using rainbow-colored tape on their hockey sticks. This decision came after multiple players opted out of wearing Pride jerseys in the month of June. Many claim that this act is a direct infringement of the First Amendment and suppression of free speech. One such person is Brian Burke, who is a former NHL vice president and director of hockey operations. Burke claims "This is not inclusion or progress...this directive closes a door that's been open for the last decade"(NHL). Pride Tape as a brand was founded in 2015 as a way to get LGBTQ youth involved and interested in team sports. With that being said, some people still found it offensive and did not want to use it.
This is not the first controversial decision the NHL has made surrounding dress codes, however, over the summer, the league banned players from wearing special jerseys during warmups for "theme nights", which are an attempt to show support for a certain topic. Past theme nights have included the LGBTQ community, indigenous groups, the military, and cancer awareness. The reason why all of this is an issue now is that last year multiple anti-pride hockey players opted out of wearing the pride-themed jerseys during the month of June. The NHL feared that pride tape was just another topic of issue among the players and fans of the game, so they decided that the best course of action would be to ban it completely. Gary Bettman, the NHL commissioner said in a statement regarding the decision to ban pride tape: "What happened last year was that the issue of who wanted to wear a particular uniform on a particular night overshadowed everything that our clubs were doing. So what we said, instead of having that distraction and having our players have to decide whether or not they wanted to do something or not do something and not be singled out" (NHL).
The main reason for this ban stems from certain hockey players who simply do not support what the pride tape stands for, with a large majority of players calling on their religion as the reason why they will not wear the pride flag. However, not all NHL players feel this way and do support the message that Pride Tape is trying to send. Some players such as Scott Laughton of the Philadelphia Flyers support pride tape as much as they can to help push the message of inclusion: "I'll use the tape--if I have to buy it myself, I will"(Chappell). People like Chappell seem to be in the majority of this hot-button issue, who support the First Amendment and freedom of speech, yet there still exists many who have other opinions. The first player to opt out of wearing the pride-themed apparel was Ivan Provorov who is a member of the Philadelphia Flyers. Provorov said that he opted out because of his Russian Orthodox tradition which is significant because of the large portion of the NHL that is also Russian. The players opposed to pride apparel are not limited to just Russians because many NHL players are religious and can't show support without violating their morals.
-Josh Geller
Sources:
Whyno, Stephen. “NHL Issues Updated Theme Night Guidance, Which Includes a Ban on Players Using Pride Tape on the Ice.” AP News, AP News, 11 Oct. 2023, apnews.com/article/nhl-theme-nights-pride-tape-1617bcf9a3deba43b9d39e935222089f.
Chappell, Bill. “NHL Bans Pride Tape, Setting off Backlash from Players and Fans.” Opb, OPB, 13 Oct. 2023, www.opb.org/article/2023/10/13/nhl-pride-tape-ban/#:~:text=High%2Dprofile%20players%20say%20they,mark%20his%20team’s%20Pride%20Night.
“NHL’s Pride Tape Ban Is ‘serious Setback,’ Brian Burke Says.” ESPN, ESPN Internet Ventures, www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/38632795/nhl-pride-tape-ban-serious-setback-brian-burke-says. Accessed 13 Oct. 2023.
8 comments:
I believe that this is a grave mistake by the NHL and a serious infringment on the First Ammendment rights of players. Their logic doens't hold up as they claim that are respecting the freedom of religion of others, but actively suppressing support for the freedom of expression. The NHL claim that they are trying to be inclusive and work to support LGBTQ+ communities, yet actively deny expression of such communities within the league. I believe that this hypocrisy should rightfully be called out be fans and players. The simple act of wearing the pride colors in support can be extremely helpful to young LGBTQ+ hockey players, but by taking this away, they are taking away parts of the positive influence players could have. Overall I think this is a bad decision that not only infringes on players rights, but also harms the inclusion they claimed to represent.
The NHL chose to support those who wish to silence LGBTQ+ people and allies instead of supporting players’ intentions to make hockey a welcoming sport for all. The NHL’s argument of protecting freedom of speech directly insinuates that they only care about the freedom of speech of their religious members. Hopefully, players will continue to participate in wearing pride tape, as the ban does more harm than good. The ban is a setback to the NHL’s support of the LGBTQ+ community, and more conflict will definitely arise in June when players choose to wear pride tape anyway. Maybe widespread protest against the ban will cause it to be repealed. Still, the NHL has made its opinions clear as they actively chose to restrict players’ freedom of speech instead of allowing people to express their opinions freely.
https://www.npr.org/2023/10/12/1205476006/nhl-bans-pride-tape-backlash
As you noted, many athletes decided to opt out due to their own religious beliefs or the more specific Russian Orthodox tradition that was mentioned. Though it is regrettable that they are unable to support LGBTQ+ with the pride-themed apparel, it is understandable that they prioritize their beliefs held closer to heart. At least these individual players aren't restricting others of their freedom of speech unlike the NHL. The NHL's choice in banning the pride tape was more than just a poor decision. By silencing the LGBTQ+ community from the hockey scene, they paint themselves in a poor light as an organization which is exclusive against a large and important community. Especially since we continue to advance society promoting better treatment towards everyone, this is a poor decision that really came at one of the worst times.
I believe the decision whether to wear/not wear something should be up to the individual players. I don't think the NHL should ban pride apparel, and I don't think they should be able to mandate it either. If the league truly wants to protect freedom of speech, they should lift these regulations and let the individual players decide how to express themselves and their beliefs.
I think that NHL banning pride tap completly was not the path they should have taken. I agree with those that said the decision to wear or use the pride tape should have been left to the individual players. Some didn't wan't to use it becuase of thier Religion and that should be respected as well as those that just didn't want to use it. The problem is that NHL has now basically silenced those that stand with the LGBTQ community and want to show thier support. There is for sure taking the freedom of speach right becuase those that wanted to support the community now aren't allowed to. This ban I think can also affect those that are part of the lGBTQ community playing in one of the 32 teams of the NHL. The banning of pride tap was a bad and poor decison made by the NHL and now rightfully so should receive any criticism becuase it put itself in that position.
I think the idea of Pride Tape decorating hockey sticks is a simple, unintrusive way to show inclusion towards LGBTQ+ people in the sport of hockey. Small symbols like that are crucial for diversity, as they help people feel valued and safe in a community.
I support the right of hockey players to not wear the pride-themed jerseys. Whether for religious or personal values, they should not be forced into showing support for something they do not support. People should be allowed to wear and not wear what they want.
This being the case, that someone does not want to wear pride-themed items does not mean they should prevent others from wearing the themed clothing. Co-existing with others who have differing values is essential for diversity. For this reason, I do not think anti-pride sentiments should have led NHL to ban the pride-themed tape.
Banning pride-themed items further isolates LGBTQ+ people from the sport of hockey, as it leads them to feel unwanted from the space by other players. The goal of the NHL should be to promote inclusion and interest in the sport of hockey, and these actions do not fulfill that goal.
I feel like there are a couple of missing pieces to this thread:
1) why do sports leagues have LGBTQ inclusive events and marketing campaigns in the first place? It's not just good business to widen your appeal, which it should be, it's in recognition that all male teams and the attendant locker room culture on most of them were (and probably still are) a taproot of homophobia in our society, and that too many coaches and players participated in a culture of cruelty towards kids involved in youth and HS sports.
2) I grew up a Washington Capitals fan - a HS friend was even related to the then-owner of the franchise, so I went to a ton of Caps games. I should be thrilled that Alex Ovechkin, the best player in the world this century, has been their anchor for a decade or more, leading them to their first Stanley Cup in 2018. Unfortunately, Ovechkin is a Putin-adjacent cheerleader for Russian fascism, which embraced anti LGBTQ politics as a wedge issue many years ago. The NHL backed off on what were to be universal pride requirements for the league on the basis that the Russian NHL players might get punished for appearing to support LGBTQ people, and as far as I'm concerned, they should have told the players and by extension the Russian government HELL NO you don't have to play here anymore if you don't want to but we aren't going to change league policy on behalf of a foreign fascist state, even though I suspect most of the players in the NHL roll their eyes at anything remotely political and/or didn't think latent homophobia in their sport was a big deal.
I believe that the banning of pride tape is not only shameful and wrong but almost laughable. What I've seemed to notice as a trend in anti-LGBTQ+ communities (as I am related to some of them myself) is that even the tiniest shows of support or recognition seem to bother them in a way that is disproportionate to the act. I understand that everyone has their own values/beliefs, so don't make the players use the tape if they don't want to! Banning it altogether is only hypocritical to the entire reasoning they put behind banning it, but it also reveals an underlying reason for enforcing a ban at all. They are much more comfortable receiving backlash from LGBTQ supporters than anti-LGBTQers, which gives an indication of where their own values lie. The use of things like pride tape aren't to claim that members of the LGBTQ+ community are superior or better or anything like that at all, it's merely a small way to gives recognition to a community that for years were under-represented and mistreated, and as seen through this act, still are.
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