It seems like more and more National Hockey League players are opting out of wearing their team’s gay-pride-themed jerseys this year. This week, another two players have joined the list of those refusing to knuckle under to the radical LGBT agenda.
In what may be one of the most underreported stories in sports, three NHL teams and four players have now decided not to participate in parading around in gay-pride jerseys during warm-up periods on “gay pride night.”
Sadly, gay-pride nights have become ubiquitous in every sport. But the latest to buck the trend is a pair of Florida Panthers players, brothers Marc and Eric Staal, who announced that they would not participate in their team’s gay pride warm-up period ahead of Thursday’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs played at Florida’s Live Arena.
For the Panthers’ gay-pride night, the team was supposed to wear gay-themed jerseys designed by a woke activist who calls herself Teepop. The team was also expected to use sticks festooned with the gay-pride rainbow colors.
As with most of these NHL gay pride night events, the jerseys are later auctioned off and the proceeds go to LGBT charities and activist causes. For the Panthers, in part, the money is set to benefit the You Can Play Project, which sets out to encourage gay athletes.
However, the Staal brothers respectfully declined to wear the gay-pride jerseys or use the gay-pride sticks during warmup.
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In their statement Thursday, the players said they “carry no judgement on how people choose to live their lives, and believe that all people should be welcome in all aspects of the game of hockey.”
marc and eric staal rlly don’t wanna wear this? pic.twitter.com/PGRsH5AoMK
— samantha | (45-18-8) (@sholden43) March 23, 2023
The pair added that, while they have no ill will against anyone, they hope that others afford them the same consideration.
But, they added, they just could not wear the gay-themed items because it runs counter to their religious ideals. “We feel that by us wearing a pride jersey it goes against our Christian beliefs,” they said.
“We hope you can respect this statement,” they wrote. “We will not be speaking any further on this matter and would like to continue to focus on the game and helping the Florida Panthers win the Stanley Cup.”
Eric and Marc Staal statement … pic.twitter.com/EhmVOuXsFa
— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) March 23, 2023
Like several other coaches have recently been forced to exclaim, Panthers coach Paul Maurice said that the team fully supports the league’s gay-pride agenda, but he has to respect the decisions of individual players not to participate in the gay-pride activities if they don’t want to.
“As an organization, we have decided — and rightfully so — to move forward with it and support it and celebrate it,” Maurice said according to Fla Hockey Now. “Teams around the league and players around the league, they’ve got the right to their opinion, and we’ve got the right to ours.”
The Staal brothers are far from alone, here. A growing number of NHL players and teams have also opted out of wearing such jerseys. Just last weekend, the Chicago Blackhawks decided not to wear their gay-pride jerseys during warm ups, but they cited a concern for the safety of their Russian-born players, as opposed to religious principles.
The Blackhawks noted that they have three players who are native Russians, all of whom have family still in Russia. That, they said, made them shy from the gay-pride jerseys because Russia recently enacted a law that makes “gay propaganda” illegal and the team feared for the safety of their players and their Russian relatives.
Two other teams also dumped the activist jerseys. Both the Minnesota Wild and, according to Fox News, the New York Rangers opted out of wearing the jerseys on gay pride night, both allegedly because they had a few players who expressed their dislike of the idea.
In addition, several other NHL players have opted out of wearing their team’s gay-pride shirts based on religious principles. Also last weekend, for example, San Jose Sharks goalie James Reimer rejected the gay-pride jersey citing his religious beliefs.
Then in January, Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov similarly refused to wear a gay-pride jersey during his team’s gay-pride night. Provorov cited his Russian Orthodox religion for his decision.
The Staal brothers and their team lost their game 6-2 to the Leafs, but they won the battle to be true to themselves. Here’s hoping more players follow them down the path of truth and faith.
