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ESPN Daily

The NHL, Pride Nights, and Sports as Catalyst for Social Change

ESPN Daily

ESPN

Sports

4.63.9K Ratings

🗓️ 3 November 2023

⏱️ 44 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Across the American sporting landscape, Pride Nights have become a popular way to reach out to the LGBTQIA+ community, a simple show of support meant to signify that sports are for everyone. In the NHL, teams have worn themed warm up jerseys that were later auctioned off for charity. But last year, Pride Nights became the epicenter of a public relations disaster for the league. A small handful of players publicly refused to participate in their team’s respective Pride Night, citing their religion or fear of retribution in their home countries, and some teams opted out of wearing the warmups entirely. Backlash and debate ensued, and the NHL banned all specialty jerseys ahead of this season. They also banned the use of Pride Tape, a rainbow-patterned wrap that players would use on their sticks. But rather than make the issue go away like the league had hoped, it blew up in their faces and created even more of a PR firestorm. The ban was eventually rescinded, but the initial decision itself was a damning tell of the state of LGBTQIA+ support, or lack thereof, in society at large. So today, Emily Kaplan joins us for a candid discussion about what happened in hockey, how we can learn from it…and who’s really affected when we talk about this subject. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

I'm Israel Gutierrez, one of the hosts of E-SPN daily.

0:09.5

For those who don't know, I've worked professionally in sports since 2000,

0:13.0

have been with the ESPN since 2012,

0:15.5

and have been out and proud as a gay man since 2015

0:19.2

when I first shared that information with the public.

0:23.7

Since that time, I've learned what it really means to live freely and frankly regret not coming

0:28.9

out much sooner.

0:31.3

Naturally I've been passionate about LGBT-related topics in sports, and there have been plenty.

0:39.3

But nothing hit home with the same weight that the National Hockey League's ban on pride tape and their subsequent

0:45.3

change of heart did.

0:46.7

There were already signs across the country that we're regressing when it comes to LGBTQ rights and support.

0:56.0

But when a sports league chose to unilaterally ban a simple sign of support for an oppressed group,

1:01.8

it felt for the first time like the regression was very real in sports, and it was happening fast.

1:09.0

Of course, the band was reversed after the words and actions of a few defiant players.

1:15.1

But the initial decision was so damaging and telling that even the reversal doesn't come

1:20.2

close to settling the issue of LGBT-Q inclusion in the NHL or all sports for that matter.

1:29.2

So I wanted to bring in my colleague and friend Emily Kaplan to have a candid discussion about what happened in

1:34.4

hockey, what we can learn from it, and most importantly who really are the

1:39.8

affected people when it comes to this subject.

1:45.0

I'm Israel Gutierrez.

1:46.0

It's Friday, November 3rd.

1:48.0

This is E-SPN Daily. Bailey. topics around the game that can sort of lead us into the larger discussion about

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