How has the NHL supported the LGBTQ+ community since Luke Prokop’s coming out?

It has been over a year since Luke Prokop made history as the first player under contract with an NHL team to come out as gay. This year, the league commemorated his coming-out on their social media platforms and the NHL website, indicating their support for Prokop as well as the LGBTQ+ community at large.

Since his coming out, here’s what Prokop and the league have done to continue supporting LGBTQ+ people in the sport of hockey and beyond. 

NHL Pride Nights

Since 2013, the NHL and its players association have partnered with the You Can Play Project, an organization that aims to “ensure the safety and inclusion for all who participate in sports.”

The Florida Panthers became the first team to host a Pride Night in 2013. In the 2021-22 season, all 32 NHL teams have hosted a Pride Night in support of the NHL’s Hockey Is For Everyone initiative, with several teams supporting LGBTQ+ organizations and charities. Overall, the league raised over $785,000 for local organizations.

During the Edmonton Oilers’ Pride Night, Prokop was the team’s honoured guest as an Edmonton native himself, who also currently plays for the WHL’s Edmonton Oil Kings. He played an instrumental part in the Oil Kings’ first Pride Night, which was held in April. For the game, he wore custom Pride skates made by Bauer. 

While Pride Night is used to connect with fans a part of the LGBTQ+ community, the event may also have the effect of eradicating homophobia within the league. According to a study where researchers interviewed Australian Ice Hockey League players, 61 percent of respondents used homophobic language when their team did not celebrate Pride Night, compared to 38 percent of respondents whose team did celebrate the event.

Attending Pride parades 

In June, the NHL announced it would attend Pride Parades in all three of its office locations; New York, Toronto and Montreal. However, many teams took the initiative to participate in their local Pride Parades, with the Toronto Maple Leafs among one of the 24 teams to do so.

Pride merchandise

Along with their annual Pride Nights, each NHL team sports Pride-inspired jerseys. Fans can buy merchandise inspired by the league’s Hockey Is For Everyone initiative, including Pride Tape. The league partnered with Pride Tape in 2016 and continuously uses the tape brand to show fans that everyone is welcome in hockey.

Updated Pride logo

On May 17, the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia, the league revealed a more progressive Pride logo, which would be used as the league’s logo for the month of June. The Progress Pride Flag includes the original rainbow with a chevron that features black, brown, pink, blue and white stripes. It’s meant to represent marginalized people of colour, transgender people and those with HIV. 

While the sentiment comes from a good place, when companies or organizations switch their logos to include the pride colours during Pride Month, it can be seen as ‘rainbow washing,’ especially when organizations do nothing to support the LGBTQ+ community throughout the rest of the year. While the NHL remains on a progressive trajectory, it does face a challenge in what has historically been the culture around the game of hockey so far.

Upon their logo announcement, the league’s social media was flooded with bigoted comments about the change. Similar comments were made when the league posted about Prokop. The comments shared similar sentiments: “Who cares,” or “This doesn’t belong in sports.” According to a survey by Out on the Fields, 73 percent of respondents believe youth team sports are unsafe for gay people.

If LGBTQ+ children feel unwelcome in sports, fewer will make it to professional leagues. That’s why when someone like Prokop comes out, he opens the door to the possibility that gay people can be accepted in sports and gives the next generation of hopeful hockey stars someone to admire.