Bigoty is running amuck down in Florida and nothing is immune to their animosity against us!
The National Hockey League has become the latest professional sports league to become entangled in the culture war.NBC NewsBy Allan SmithFebruary 4, 2023The National Hockey League finds itself on thin ice with some conservatives as a new target in the U.S. culture war.In the run-up to its All-Star Game in Florida on Saturday, the league has sought to put its efforts aimed at promoting diversity and inclusion front and center. But those moves have drawn sharp criticism from powerful conservatives, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a leading contender for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, and Fox News host Tucker Carlson, the most-watched primetime cable news host, and sparked controversy on and off the ice.
There’s little indication those tensions will soon wane. Amid calls for change from both inside and outside the sport, the NHL and its teams have sought to address past instances of racism and abuse, diversify its workforce and foster a welcoming environment for LGBTQ fans and athletes. In doing so, the league has promoted semi-regular “Pride” nights at games, conducted a top-to-bottom diversity and inclusion assessment of itself and appealed to racial and ethnic groups who have traditionally not made up a significant portion of the league’s workforce.
At the same time, leading conservatives argue that some of those initiatives are openly discriminatory toward straight white men — who still make up the vast majority of team and league employees — or impede on religious freedom. DeSantis, ahead of his potential presidential bid, has strategically picked fights on social issues with large corporations and entities like Disney, the College Board and the NHL when they are operating in his state, which he has said is where “woke goes to die.”
When will this eradication of LGBTQ people end?
It seems like the states are in a competition who can come up with them draconian laws against us. And bigotry is surfacing in the locker room.
The league has skated into thorny issues beyond the DeSantis dust-up in recent weeks. Ahead of a “Pride Night” game between the Philadelphia Flyers and Anaheim Ducks last month, Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov opted against participating in the pre-game skate because he refused to wear the pride-themed warm-up jersey, saying after the contest he wanted “to stay true to myself and my religion.” The incident sparked both backlash against, and support for, the Russian-born player.
Last week, the New York Rangers, aware of how the Provorov situation played out, chose not to wear their scheduled pride-themed warm-ups, with the team saying in a statement the “organization respects the LGBTQ+ community and we are proud to bring attention to important local community organizations as part of another great Pride Night.
When will this madness end?
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