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NHL preaches to inclusiveness. So why did it go to bed with Donald Trump? | NHL

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“dIVERSE’s representation in an inclusive environment has proven to enhance innovation, creativity and decision-making – all of which are crucial to the growth of sports and our business. Diversity and Inclusion ReportIt was released in 2022. “Recognizing these facts, we are working to better understand and accelerate our participation at all levels of diversity, including nationality, race, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability and religion, as well as their nuances and intersections,” Bettman continued.

last week, Bateman was named Along with NHL legend Wayne Gretzky, Florida Panthers captain Matthew Tkachukx6x, and various representatives of other sports are members of the Donald Trump sports committee. The committee will be responsible – among other things, playing an important role in restoring the tradition of college athletics, including… to disengage men from women’s sports. “You’re not talking about the opportunity of Bettman and others, to better understand the nuances of gender identity through voice.

This is not the first time Bateman has sent a mixed message around social issues. For example, in 2023, NHL Try to hold a career fair The aim is to recruit more diverse workforces (its inclusion report states that the coalition employees are about 84% of white people, up to 93%). The event was linked to the All-Star Game in Florida that year and soon attracted the attention of the governor’s office, which accused the NHL of discriminating against white people. The league canceled the career fair.

A few weeks later, the NHL had another chance to make for its own diversity values when a handful of players refused to wear the team’s pride-themed warm-up jersey. Instead, the NHL gently retreated, encouraging “voices and perspectives on social and cultural issues.” That June – Pride Month, too – Bateman completely canceled the Pride jersey, Call up The anger around them is “distracted” from the expected message.

One wonders how he will get directly involved in a business in a cultural war, or for that matter, how the NHL characterizes a specialist’s moment of self-expression. Bettman’s participation in the Trump Sports Commission may fall under the category of “voices and perspectives on social and cultural issues” that the league talks about in The Pride Jersey Difficult. But seeing Trump seems to be focusing on getting trans women out of college sports – even if there is Less than 10 According to the NCAA president, trans athletes in college sports – it feels like a very specific point of view on cultural issues, doesn’t it?

Repeated allowances for anti-LGBTQ+, from NHL In the guise of simply allowing all views to flourish equally, how it pretends that these views are not morally equivalent. Of course, players who refuse to wear pride-themed jerseys cannot be forced to wear them, but it’s not just a fashion option. Fundamentally, these players make decisions based on the worldview of refusing to accept LGBTQ+ people (including their hockey players), equal to them and everyone else. The problem is not the jersey – but they do a great job of highlighting it.

Earlier this spring, Harrison Browne, the first trans player in professional hockey, wrote that in the NCAA, he had the option to have his own locker room and change pronouns on the roster. “Looking back, I realize how important this is for trans and non-binary student-athletes, whether they accept these choices or not, Brown wrote In walrus. “These choices provide a benchmark for institutional acceptance and recognition for gender diversity athletes at all levels,” Brown told The Guardian via email on Monday. [Bettman, Gretzky, and Tkachuk] It is disturbing to lag behind a government targeting marginalized communities, especially transgender people in the sports field, and a huge step in making hockey a more inclusive sport. ”

It is indeed not Bateman’s business, nor has it never happened. When he was admitted to the commissioner in 1992, he Tell a room full of journalists “The way the league performs well is to make its products as attractive as possible to the maximum number of fans.” In other words, he believes in growth, even until 2022. His risk is now stagnation, or even return. On the same day in 1992, Bateman says He wanted to make hockey, a sport that was seen as violent and retrograde at the time, more “user-friendly.” He admits to do this he needs to push some older owners into the future. “We may be heading in new, progressive directions, which will make sense for everyone,” Bateman said. “For some, it may take more time.”

Maybe in 2025 the diversity and inclusive stuff against Bateman – other North American sports have decided they don’t have belly to fight The Cultural War under TrumpNFL committee Roger Goodell is also on the White House Athletic Committee. But Bateman should give the league a policy of diversity, rather than deliberately reversing the course, hurting hockey players and fans and ultimately endangering the future success of the sport. If at least there are too many things to ask, if he was invited to join a club created by hostile and retrograde presidents, he should have smart people now just say no.

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