Victory: 'Pride Nights' to Be a Little Less Woke After NHL Caves on LGBTQ Jersey Issue

With the exception of Bud Light’s about-face on the Dylan Mulvaney issue, in some ways it seems like conservative victories on the LGBTQ front have been few and far in between these days, especially considering Joe Biden’s seeming confirmation during a recent “Pride Celebration” that he implicitly condones the teaching of sexually explicit material in public school classrooms, some of which involves teaching little Jimmy, complete with graphically illustrated tutorials, that it’s okay to fantasize about having sex with his male classmate or to pretend to be a girl.

But in a fresh sign that all hope isn’t lost, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced Thursday in an interview that though “Pride Nights” would still go on, after pushback from players and fans alike Pride jerseys will be going away on “Pride Night” games in the league on grounds that the issue had “become a distraction”:

“I’ve suggested that it would be appropriate for clubs not to change their jerseys in warmups because it’s become a distraction and taking away from the fact that all of our clubs in some form or another host nights in honour of various groups or causes, and we’d rather them continue to get the appropriate attention that they deserve and not be a distraction,” Bettman told Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman in an exclusive interview following the NHL’s Board of Governors meeting on Thursday.

[…]

“… in the final analysis, all of the emphasis and efforts on the importance of these various causes have been undermined by the distraction of which teams, which players (chose not to wear the jerseys), this way we’re keeping the focus on the game and on these specialty nights we’re going to be focused on the cause.”

Watch:

NHL bans LGBTQ Pride jerseys for teams during games and warm-ups pic.twitter.com/ZUaceIwdY8

— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) June 22, 2023

It’s unclear whether Bettman was effectively “banning” Pride jerseys from being worn on Pride Nights, and even if they were I suspect some teams, especially those out on the left coast, would try to defy it anyway.

Hysteria ensued from the Usual Suspects in the sports world and beyond earlier this year after NHL stars like (now-former) Philadephia Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov and (now-former) San Jose Sharks goaltender James Reimer opted out of either participating in “Pride Nights” and/or having to wear the LGBTQ-themed Pride jerseys, with some saying it went against their religious faith.

For instance, in yet another troubling “woke sports reporters gone wild” moment, a senior reporter from the NHL Network – E.J. Hradek – actually suggested that Provorov go back to Russia because he dared to engage in WrongSpeak. After that, Hradek hinted that perhaps Provorov should also enlist to fight in the Russia-Ukraine war:

“Ivan Provorov can get on a plane any day he wants and go back to a place where he feels more comfortable, take less money, and get on with his life that way, if it’s that problematic for him. And he’s been in North America for a long time. He played in the Western Hockey League, he’s now been in Philadelphia for many years. If this is that much of a problem for him to maybe assimilate into his group of teammates, and in the community, and here in this country, that’s okay, you can feel any way you want. But there’s always a chance to leave, go back where you feel more comfortable. I understand there’s a conflict of sorts going on over there, maybe get involved.”

As I said at the time, imagine Hradek thinking that he came off looking like the bigger guy there in supposedly defending American ideals while simultaneously telling a Russian player to go back home to live under an authoritarian ruler, and one who also is known to punish people (and severely so) for saying and doing things with which he disagrees.

But as RedState readers know, this is the world we live in, where disagreement with the so-called Alphabet Mafia – especially the “T” part of that equation, is grounds for naming, shaming and cancellation, and all because we trust the science when it comes to what constitutes a boy and a girl and because no, we don’t believe our children belong to the government.