The Dallas Stars hockey team is causing quite a stir among liberal fans after the team decided that it would not be hosting an LGBTQ Pride Night during the 2026-2027 season, marking the first time they haven’t held one in five years. The team did not provide any details as to why they decided to drop Pride Night, which usually takes place in February or March.
Instead, the team announced they would be holding a “Hockey Unites Us: Women in Sports Night” on March 23, 2027 in their game against the Carolina Hurricanes. “The new Hockey Unites Night allows our organization to use our platform to celebrate and support a different underrepresented community each season,” Stars spokesperson Joe Calvillo went on to say in a statement.
It’s important to note that the National Hockey League (NHL) does not mandate that teams host a Pride Night event. The choice to hold such an event is left completely up to the individual organizations. Each team is allowed to pick what causes or groups they wish to shine a spotlight on or bring attention to. This season, the Stars are celebrating black history, Hockey Fights Cancer, Noche Mexicana, the U.S. military, and first responders.
“Last season, the Carolina Hurricanes, Los Angeles Kings and Utah Mammoth were the only three NHL teams not to host a night to celebrate LGBTQ+ inclusion,” noted the Dallas News. “The Boston Bruins have never hosted a dedicated Pride Night but include the LGBTQ+ community in their broader Hockey Is For Everyone celebration held annually since 2017-18.”
“The Kings, however, are bringing back Pride Night next season, and the Hurricanes have a Hockey Is For Everyone Night scheduled for March,” the article continued. Of course, once the Stars made the announcement, liberals all across social media took to their platforms of choice to express their frustration and disappointment with the franchise.
“It is truly a shame that in an era where bigotry is being normalized, the [Stars] have decided that they want to treat celebration nights as if they’re pie instead of welcoming everyone in,” said one user. “One of the biggest signs of increasing societally approved bigotry is when minority groups are no longer seen by businesses as profitable. This isn’t just a Dallas Stars issue, or an NHL/hockey issue, and it’s not even just a queer issue. It’s everywhere.”
Others, however, feel the Stars made a smart move by no longer catering to the very small population of LGBTQ fans that such an event would appeal to. “Enough of this garbage. No need to celebrate someone’s private sex life,” one user said. “Wish the league would learn from them. No fans want this shoved down their throats,” another commented.
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Another wondered if the NHL and other major sports organizations were finally getting the message, or if there was another reason for opting against holding Pride Night events. “Is someone finally getting the message or is it pressure from the exploding Islamic population in the DFW area?” the user said. Someone replied to the user’s comment saying, “I’m hoping it’s the former, but you aren’t wrong about the latter.”
Featured Image: screenshot from embedded video