Brian Burke calls out teams and players choosing not to wear Pride jerseys
Brian Burke and Tara Slone can both be characterized as trailblazers of sorts in their chosen fields.
Sloan the former Sportsnet personality now working for the San Jose Sharks recently to Burke about Patrick Marleau's jersey retirement (the first by the San Jose Sharks) as well as welcoming the LGBTQ+ community.
When pressed by Slone about what gives him hope in the league after recent events involving Ivan Provorov, the New York Rangers, and New York Islanders Burke responded with the following: «This sounds cliché, but I think back to when my son came out and life is so much better than those twelve years ago.» He continued that «Life is so much better for my son than when I was in high school».
Instead of focusing on what could have been looked upon as disappointing occurrences in a very short period of time, Burke chose to look at the progress that has been made.
Burke noted that «it was disappointing» and he «didn't understand it», but he also made a point of suggesting that «you're not signing up for anything», but just being welcoming to a community that has been historically marginalized by others in history.
For what it's worth, Brian Burke redirecting the overall anger of the LGBTQ+ community for the issues in Philadelphia, and in New York State is an odd approach but an approach that needs to happen more often.
While it's important for one to stand their ground and hate, bigotry and the like should not be part of the game of hockey one also needs to recognize that whether it's taken its time change has occurred and will continue to occur; even if at a snail's pace.
| POLL | ||
DO LGBTQ+ nights belong in hockey? | ||
| Yes, people should be celebrated | 23 | 16.2 % |
| No, how people live is nobodies business | 119 | 83.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
