Blackhawks Scrap Pride Jerseys to Protect Players with Ties to Russia
Hockey team the Chicago Blackhawks have decided to scrap Pride-themed jerseys for this coming weekend's match against the Canucks in order to protect players with family in Russia, the according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
"The Hawks have worn Pride jerseys on Pride Night in previous seasons and have worn special jerseys during warmups on other themed nights, such as St. Patrick's Day and Black History Month, earlier this season," the newspaper noted.
But the rainbow-themed jerseys — which the team had planned to wear during warmups before the match this coming Sunday, March 26 — are being set aside due to "safety concerns for Russian players," the Sun-Times detailed.
"The Hawks currently have at least three players on their NHL roster — Russian defenseman Nikita Zaitsev, Swiss forward Philipp Kurashev and Kazakh goaltender Anton Khudobin — who are of Russian heritage or have family in Russia."
The decision, made by the team's front office, follows an expansion last November of Russia's notorious "Don't Say Gay" law, first passed in 2013, which makes it a crime "for Russians to promote or 'praise' LGBTQ relationships or suggest they are 'normal,'" the article explained.
The law originally banned expressions or support for, or even acknowledgement of, LGBTQ+ people and same-sex relationships where children could see or hear. But the new law, passed as Russia continues a long and costly slog through a war of aggression against democratic neighbor Ukraine, makes it a crime for any such expressions, putting them "on a par with pornography or promoting suicide, violence and criminal or extremist behavior," Open Democracy noted at the time of the expanded law's implementation.
The newly expanded law doesn't just target same-sex relationships; the same restrictions apply when it comes to childless heterosexual couples, Open Democracy noted.
"Pride jerseys have been a hot-button topic around the NHL this season since January, when Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov refused to wear a Pride jersey — while every other Flyers player did so — for the Flyers' Pride Night. Provorov cited his Russian Orthodox religious beliefs," the Sun-Times noted, adding that several other teams — the Islanders, the Rangers, and Wild — have similarly decided not to wear Pride jerseys on Pride nights.
Again, the long arm of Russian homophobia seemed to exerted pressure: "Wild star Kirill Kaprizov had a difficult time leaving Russia for the U.S. at the start of the season, eventually spending two weeks in Turkey in order to receive a visa," the article recounted.
As previously reported, the NHL's only out player under contract — 20-year-old Luke Prokop, who is a prospect for the Nashville Predators — decried the sport's retreat from such welcoming signals of inclusion to LGBTQ+ fans and athletes.
Commenting in a March 20 tweet on "what feels like a step back for inclusion in the NHL," Prokop reflected that "Pride nights and pride jerseys play an important part in promoting respect and inclusion for the LGBTQIA+ community, and it's disheartening to see some teams no longer wearing them or not fully embracing their significance, while the focus of others has become about the players who aren't participating rather than the meaning of the night itself."