National Hockey League Players create “You Can Play” which promotes eradicating homophobic locker room culture.
My husband and I have a zero-tolerance policy for hate and discrimination. We could never support a person or an organization that is intolerant of others. Considering we are avid sports fans, you can imagine our excitement when we learned the National Hockey League is aligned with our ideology.
The NHL, along with several of its high-profile players, has teamed up with the “You Can Play” project to create a series of public service announcements about changing the homophobic culture of athletic locker rooms, and fighting for the rights of gay athletes (in all sports).
In a recent interview with Washington Post sports writer, Dan Steinberg, “You Can Play” project co-founder, Patrick Burke, said this about his organization’s long-term goals:
“I do not intend to be doing this for the rest of my life; we want to rectify this as soon as possible. The end goal of our project is that we’re completely useless. We want the day to come when it’s not a story when an athlete comes out, when athletes are only judged by how they can help their teams win.”
The way we generate social change is through education and information. I hope the “You Can Play” project’s mission statement goes viral, and I hope you will pass this post along to your friends, family members, and colleagues. There’s no room for hatred and bigotry in our world.
As for me, I’m going to send this information to Kirk Cameron. He could use more enlightenment on equality and acceptance.