Eric staal gay

A Pride organization in Thunder Bay, Ont., says LGBTQ communities "deserve better," after NHL players Eric and Marc Staal decided not to wear Pride warmup jersey's with the rest of the. Eric Staal, 38, told reporters he would like to “stick to the statement made and released” when asked for further comment after the game. The jerseys, posted to the official Florida Panthers. Brothers Eric and Marc Staal, who both play for the Florida Panthers, did not participate in the pregame skate Thursday night because they declined to wear the team's LGBTQIA+ Pride Night.

Eric Staal appears to be mistaken about whether or not he's ever worn a 'Pride' jersey. The Florida Panthers forward addressed the media Thursday night after he, along with his teammate. Eric and Marc Staal — brothers who play together for the Florida Panthers — are the latest NHL players to reject the inclusion of LGBT people in hockey and refuse to wear a rainbow Pride.

If it looks like a homophobe and talks like a homophobe, then — well — you get the idea. Dan Lett, Columnist. If you enjoy my newsletter, please consider forwarding it to others. They can sign up for free here. You can browse all of our newsletters here. Go ahead, Eric Staal. Jordan Staal front Marc Staal are busy enunciating the reasons why they have refused to wear a Pride-themed jersey.

Eric Staal and Marc

Before completing my argument in favour of that last thought, some background on the NHL team Pride events. Pride Night celebrations hosted by NHL teams started in when — ironically enough — the Florida Panthers became the first team to host a celebration. The motivation for You Can Play came in part from the death of Brendan Burke, brother of Patrick and son of Brian, who died the previous year in a car wreck.

After coming out in , Brendan had been a tireless critic of the culture of homophobia that exists in high-level sports. The Staals and Reimer directly attributed their decisions to religious, or more specifically, Christian beliefs. That is hardly surprising; there are a variety of Christian denominations that consider the condemnation of same-sex relationships to be a core element of their beliefs.

What is a bit more surprising, and a whole lot more objectionable, is the attempt by these players to claim they are really good and principled people who were almost forced to reach this decision, and as a result, should not be condemned for doing it. The Staals leaned heavily on that morally perverse bit of logic. It should also be noted that in addition to offering his justification for not wearing the jersey last week, Eric Staal astonished reporters by claiming he had never worn a Pride-themed jersey for any of the six teams he played for.

Even when told there is video and photos of him wearing a Pride jersey when he played in Montreal during the season, he denied it. In a moving interview last weekend on Sportsnet, Burke eloquently and respectfully laid waste to the Staal-Reimer arguments and demonstrated unwavering support for the cause behind Pride Night.

The Staals and Reimer may not know this, but homophobia does not become more acceptable in a religious context. Hate is hate, even if you try to justify it with a quote from Leviticus. At a time when Uganda and Russia are making it criminal to engage in same-sex relationships, and various American states are passing laws making it illegal to even discuss same-sex relationships in schools or libraries, the actions of this handful of NHL players are enormously disappointing.

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