Commentary: Athletes should universally support Pride events

Faith is no excuse to create division in sports

Image by: Amna Rafiq
Ivan Provorov made a selfish choice.

Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov sat out of warm-ups during the team’s Pride Night last week because the team planned on wearing Pride-themed jerseys.

His controversial decision—one which he rationalized with his Russian Orthodox faith—sparked widespread discussion. Unfortunately, he’s just the latest athlete to selfishly clutch to his beliefs instead of supporting the LGBTQ+ community.

“I respect everybody, and I respect everybody’s choices. My choice is to stay true to myself and my religion,” Provorov said after the game, according to The Athletic.

It’s 2023: how are there still so many athletes under the consistently disproven impression that sexual orientation is a personal choice?

Everyone is and should be entitled to making their own decisions. However, these athletes don’t seem to understand the damage they do when they won’t just put on the Pride-themed warmup jersey or hat like the rest of their teammates.

Nobody is asking them to change their religious beliefs or unlearn teachings that have been imposed upon on them, no matter how misguided they may be. All we’re asking is for them to stand in solidarity with a marginalized group of people.

In 2022, several Tampa Bay Rays players refused to wear the Pride logo on their jerseys as part of the team’s Pride Night event. One of them was relief pitcher Jason Adam, who, in explaining his “faith-based decision” came off as uninformed, to put it nicely.

“Because, ultimately, we all said what we want is them to know that all are welcome and loved here. But when we put it on our bodies, I think a lot of guys decided that it’s just a lifestyle that maybe — not that they look down on anybody or think differently—it’s just that maybe we don’t want to encourage it if we believe in Jesus, who’s encouraged us to live a lifestyle that would abstain from that behavior, just like (Jesus) encourages me as a heterosexual male to abstain from sex outside of the confines of marriage. It’s no different,” he told The Tampa Bay Times.

Fortunately, most people know being born homosexual and choosing not to have pre-marital sex are absolutely different. Unfortunately, these reductive ideologies are far too present among professional athletes—and it’s the bad apples who make headlines.

Every time an athlete makes one of these selfish choices, they risk being the reason a child doesn’t feel comfortable playing sports. Maybe the next Wayne Gretzky will never touch the ice because he was made to believe hockey was not a welcoming or safe space.

Considering current research suggests roughly 7.1 per cent of American adults identify as something other than heterosexual, it would also be foolish to assume no homosexual males are playing in the NHL and MLB despite there being none who are public. For all we know, there could very well be some homosexual players on the Flyers and Rays.

Imagine being one of them and going through the grind of a professional season knowing your teammates wouldn’t accept you for being yourself.

Sports should be about building community, not division. Athletes need to do the right thing and stand in solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community.

Remember: actions always speak louder than words.

Tags

LGBTQ+, MLB, NHL, Pride

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