I’m Gay. Leave Ivan Provorov Alone | Opinion – Newsweek
Gay rights once meant fighting for marriage equality and anti-discrimination protections. Now, it apparently means harassing random pro athletes who won’t wrap themselves in the rainbow flag.
At least, that’s what’s happening right now with NHL player Ivan Provorov. The Flyers’ player stepped on a rainbow-colored hornet’s nest on Tuesday night when he declined to participate in a pre-game skate where all the players were wearing Pride-themed warmup gear. He went on to play in their game per normal.
“I respect everybody, I respect everybody’s choices,” Provorov, who is Russian and a Russian Orthodox Christian, explained to reporters. “My choice is to stay true to myself and my religion.”
The Flyers’ coach, John Tortorella, backed up his player. He pointed out that while the team has reiterated its values and its support for LGBT pride, “With Provy, he is being true to himself and to his religion. This has to do with his beliefs and his religion. That is one thing I respect about Provy, he is always true to himself, so that’s where we’re at with that.”
Tortorella went on to say it would be “unfair” to bench or otherwise punish the player for his actions. But, on social media and in the sports media, Provorov is getting savaged over his decision—with some not just criticizing him, but even trying to punish him for it.
“The Flyers should have responded by not allowing him to play in the game,” tweeted NHL commentator Gord Miller.
“He’s a shameful human being whose homophobia is only going to get more shameful over the years,” hockey writer Adam Proteau concurred.
“Ivan Proporov chose to embrace prejudice,” OutSports writer Cyd Zeigler chimed in.
Ivan Provorov has the right to any opinion he chooses. And we have the right to have any opinion on Ivan Provorov that we choose. Like this: he’s a shameful human being whose homophobia is only going to get more shameful over the years.
— Adam Proteau (@Proteautype) January 18, 2023
Meanwhile, on television, NHL analyst E.J. Hradek said that Provorov should go back to Russia if he’s not willing to join his teammates in embracing the rainbow flag. (Yes, seriously!) And TV host Sid Seixeiro called for the NHL to fine the team $1 million dollars so they “stop offending people… on nights when it’s supposed to be about inclusivity.”
This outrage is simply unhinged.
Speaking as a gay person who most certainly supports gay rights, I can nonetheless safely say that Ivan Provorov did nothing wrong. He didn’t discriminate against anyone. He didn’t call anyone names or use any slurs. He didn’t even say anything hateful or bigoted. All he did was politely decline to affirmatively embrace the Pride movement.
Sorry, but that’s his right.
He signed up to play hockey, not to be an ambassador of a particular cause or movement. What’s more, we have to be honest about the fact that the Pride movement is not some apolitical, human rights-based cause as Provorov’s critics make it sound. It is, unfortunately, very closely tied with Democratic politics—including support for abortion, gun control, and a variety of other issues people of good faith can have earnest disagreements over.
The oddest part of the backlash is the way Provorov is being accused of failing at “inclusivity.” Because if you actually believe in an inclusive, pluralistic society where we all live side by side and are free to live as we see fit, that has to include the roughly half the country who doesn’t embrace liberal social causes—yes, even the ones you really care about. You’re not “inclusive” or “tolerant” if you demand that everyone must bend the knee to your ideological campaigns. By definition, that’s repressive and intolerant.
The Left wants to have it both ways. It’s stunning and brave when athletes like former NFL player Colin Kaepernick stand up for their values publicly, yet Provorov is a bigoted homophobe for standing by his values. It seems that for some liberals, athletes speaking out is only acceptable when they say the “right” things and take the positions they personally find acceptable.
Thankfully, the NHL is, so far, doing the right thing here and resisting the online mobs. In a statement, the league said that while it organizationally supports the Pride movement, “Players are free to decide which initiatives to support, and we continue to encourage their voices and perspectives on social and cultural issues.”
This is the right call. The NHL’s motto is “hockey is for everybody.” That absolutely must include gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender people, who should be welcomed into the sport and free of any harassment or discrimination. Yet, for it to mean anything, it must also include traditionalist people of faith who don’t share liberal values.
Sports have a unique ability to push our differences to the background and bring us all together—but only if we keep them free of divisive purity tests and ideological intolerance.
Brad Polumbo (@Brad_Polumbo) is a libertarian-conservative journalist and the co-founder of BASEDPolitics.
The views expressed in this article are the writer’s own.