Was anybody unaware that major league sports are among the most homophobic communities on the planet?
The first contracted NHL player to come out as gay was literally only 2 years ago. So for 103 years they either did not contract LGBT people or they were still forced to be closeted because of the environment NHL fostered.
Not all leagues are created equal. The NBA is doing a much better job encouraging pride night and cracking down on intolerance and hate in its league than the NHL which is more focused on cramming more ads in your face as if that will return their shrinking and dying fan base.
Yeah, really. There have been virtually no gay players in professional sports. That’s simply not in the realm of probability given the statistics of the general population. There are a lot of closeted gay players.
This situation would not be acceptable to the HR department of any other business.
This is a situation that goes to the top too. At any time in the various negotiations with the various player associations the leagues could’ve had policies more consistent with most companies. Major suspensions (without pay) for players that violate the league’s policies on harassment. And yeah being against gay people is harassment, so refusing to put on a pride uniform would fall under that.
The reason this doesn’t exist is because the owners don’t care about a a real problem of toxic behaviour in their businesses.
By having players opt out, they were accidentally revealing that the league has a significant homophobia problem.
Rather than address the issue, they’ve decided to ignore it, and shove those pride jerseys back into the closet.
Was anybody unaware that major league sports are among the most homophobic communities on the planet?
The first contracted NHL player to come out as gay was literally only 2 years ago. So for 103 years they either did not contract LGBT people or they were still forced to be closeted because of the environment NHL fostered.
Not all leagues are created equal. The NBA is doing a much better job encouraging pride night and cracking down on intolerance and hate in its league than the NHL which is more focused on cramming more ads in your face as if that will return their shrinking and dying fan base.
Yeah, really. There have been virtually no gay players in professional sports. That’s simply not in the realm of probability given the statistics of the general population. There are a lot of closeted gay players.
This situation would not be acceptable to the HR department of any other business.
This is a situation that goes to the top too. At any time in the various negotiations with the various player associations the leagues could’ve had policies more consistent with most companies. Major suspensions (without pay) for players that violate the league’s policies on harassment. And yeah being against gay people is harassment, so refusing to put on a pride uniform would fall under that.
The reason this doesn’t exist is because the owners don’t care about a a real problem of toxic behaviour in their businesses.
Inciting bigots to out themselves is too political, it seems.