NHL Bans Use Of Pride Tape On Hockey Sticks

Summary

• NHL’s new policy prevents players from using pride tape going forward
• Voluntary celebrations will be permitted under new policy but off the ice
• LGBTQ+ Campaigners voice frustration at NHL’s new policy

The National Hockey League (NHL) has come out with a new policy that will no longer allow players to use rainbow coloured tape on their sticks in support of the LGBTQ+ community. 

The NHL has celebrated Pride Month for a number of seasons and players were using different types of pride symbols to campaign for the LGBTQ+ community. Multiple players in recent months have decided to opt out of supporting the LGBTQ+ community due to their religious beliefs. 

In June 2023, the NHL asked teams to not wear pride jerseys during warm-up games and their latest memo announcing the ban of pride tape has not gone down well with the LGBTQ+ community.

The NHL sent out a memo to teams informing them that they can no longer custom their gear for official team practices and warm-ups to support military appreciation celebrations, Hockey Fights Cancer or Pride campaigns. The memo clarifies that players can support these campaigns via voluntary celebrations but it must be done off the ice.

LGBTQ+ Community Voices Disapproval

The LGBTQ+ community wasn’t happy when the NHL stopped teams from wearing pride jerseys during warm-up games and they are extremely frustrated with the NHL’s latest policy.

The You Can Play Project which is a big advocate for the LGBTQ+ community said that the new policy is not the right way forward as it does not advocate that hockey is for everyone!

The You Can Play Project released a statement which said

It is now clear that the NHL is stepping back from its long-standing commitment to inclusion, and continuing to unravel all of its one-time industry-leading work on 2SLGBTQ+ belonging. We are now at a point where all the progress made, and relationships established with our community, is in jeopardy. 

The statement went on to say

Making decisions to eradicate our visibility in hockey — by eliminating symbols like jerseys and now Pride Tape — immediately stunts the impact of bringing in more diverse fans and players into the sport.

Some of the NHL teams like the Winnipeg Jets said they were yet to review the new NHL policy and could not comment on whether they support the new policy.