As many as ten professional NFL teams have refrained from offering any LGBTQ Pride Month messaging for the month of June.
Out of the NFL’s 32 professional teams, just 22 acknowledged Pride Month with the start of June over the weekend via social media, reaching a combined total of 42 million followers. According to Fox News:
The Washington Commanders, for instance, stated that Pride Month is actually about love. The Commanders, Buffalo Bills, and Philadelphia Eagles altered the color of their logos to align with a pride flag. The Vikings not only tweeted their support and changed their logo but also updated the banner of their X account. They appear to be highly enthusiastic about Pride Month.
Although the main NFL account didn’t issue a direct LGBTQ Pride Month message, it did repost messages from the Chicago Bears and Jacksonville Jaguars. The ten teams who have not issued a Pride Month message so far are:
- The Pittsburgh Steelers
- Cleveland Browns
- Cincinnati Bengals
- Tennessee Titans
- Kansas City Chiefs
- Denver Broncos
- Dallas Cowboys
- Green Bay Packers
- New Orleans Saints
- Atlanta Falcons
Last year, the National Hockey League (NHL) announced that its teams would no longer wear rainbow-colored LGBTQ-themed jerseys during pregame warmups for Pride nights. In that same year, NHL Pride Nights came under scrutiny when Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov declined to participate in his team’s Pride Night because of his orthodox Christian faith, leading to accusations of bigotry and homophobia. Nonetheless, the Philadelphia Flyers retained him in the lineup, and the team went on to win the game against the Anaheim Ducks.
Members of the Sydney Swans Football Club and LA Rams cheerleaders walk in the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade as part of Sydney World on February 25, 2023, in Sydney, Australia. (Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)
“I respect everybody, and I respect everybody’s choices,” he stated after the game. “My choice is to stay true to myself and my religion. That’s all I’m going to say.”
