The NHL will once again celebrate Pride Month this June. As part of the celebration, Jeff McLean, the co-founder of Pride Tape, has written a first-person essay for NHL.com.
Being invited by our friends at the NHL to join them for the 2019 WorldPride parade was as incredible as you might imagine. But what happened days prior at the NHL headquarters in New York City was the moment that will always stick with me.
We wanted to reciprocate their thoughtful invitation to New York by offering to help our friends at the NHL get their bus ready for the parade. In a brief, quiet moment alone waiting for the freight elevator, I looked out across the sea of office cubicles. The office was empty thanks to their half-day Friday summer perk. Poking above a number of employee pods were random hockey sticks, wrapped in Pride Tape. To this day, it reminds me how our small actions can have a lasting impact, how we can share messages of acceptance without using words.
[RELATED: More NHL Pride coverage]
Pride Tape started in 2016 as a grassroots community-based idea that was created to promote inclusion in sport. The idea for Pride Tape as a visual badge of support from the hockey world to young LGBTQ+ players originally came out of research indicating that sexual minority youth were less likely to play organized team sports because of homophobic and unwelcoming environments. From the onset, we had no idea what success might look like. We only hoped that maybe one person would see it, feel welcome in sports, and maybe that person would inspire someone else. But thanks to an initial phone call with the NHL, our simple roll of multicolored tape transformed into global impact.
Our first call to the NHL was instantly met with incredible support, providing rewards for our Kickstarter campaign, articles on NHL.com, and numerous calls from NHL clubs. The Edmonton Oilers also stepped up in a big way, using a Pride Tape prototype during their all-star skills competition event. Their significant donation through the Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation enabled us to reach our goal of producing the first 10,000 rolls of Pride Tape. Six months later, one of those Oilers sticks used in their skills competition was placed on permanent display in the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.
The bigger Pride Tape movement began with a number of worldwide articles, including the UK's Guardian newspaper, even making its way into Canada's House of Commons with a statement by a Member of Parliament that received a standing ovation. The real lift happened as hockey fans from around the world rallied around Pride Tape. Our initial campaign reached 6.5 million people through social media. Today, as part of the NHL's Hockey is for Everyone program, we've reached over 900 million views and counting.
The NHL's support has led to the tape being adopted into other sports such as cycling, baseball and lacrosse, and major sporting events like the 2022 Beijing Olympics. But it's the individual, personal stories that have contributed to the tape's greatest momentum.
Some inclusive groups around the world, including the Seattle Pride Hockey Association, attribute their inception to Pride Tape. Co- founder Joey Gale states, "The impact of a global organization like the NHL using its platform for positive social change in the LGBTQ+ community is truly moving. As a gay lifelong hockey player and fan, I still feel an overwhelming sense of joy when I see NHL players and teams using Pride Tape. The visibility and intentionality of players using Pride Tape helps hockey move toward the vision of making it a space for everyone, especially LGBTQ+ youth.
"As a co-founder of the Seattle Pride Hockey Association, our story as an organization began in part because of the Pride Tape I had on my stick. All players of any ability have the power to make even the smallest impact by simply wrapping their stick with Pride Tape."
A Dallas Stars fan created an inclusive softball league in Texas after seeing his Stars using Pride Tape in warmups. In a beautiful tribute, many teams and organizations have incorporated Pride Tape into their logos to show everyone is welcome, including Martin Hyun's "Hockey is Diversity" organization in Berlin, the Calgary Inclusive Hockey Association Pioneers, Edmonton Rage LGBT+ Hockey, and the Manchester Mayhem, a para ice hockey club in the UK.
Together with the NHL, Pride Tape continues to lead the charge and making sports more inclusive. All 32 NHL teams continue to escalate their pride events, showcasing the important visibility of Pride Tape, celebrating sports' under-represented communities by connecting in a deeper, more meaningful way. When we can empower our supporters by giving them the tools to supercharge their creativity, it amplifies the much-needed messages for equality and inclusion in sport.
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June 20, 2022 at 02:00PM
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NHL's embrace of Pride Tape has meaningful, lasting impact - NHL.com
"lasting" - Google News
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