Pride tape is increasing visibility for LGBTQ+ athletes and saving lives, one hockey stick at a time.

The brightly coloured rainbow athletic tape was created in 2016 by Dr. Kristopher Wells and Jeff McLean.

“The message is always about the importance of inclusion, and we like to say, all we really want is the game that you love to love you back,” Wells said.

While in Surrey, B.C. for the NHL Unites Pride Cup, Wells said the idea came from a question he had as a professor at the University of Alberta. “Why are young gay and bisexual boys dropping out of organized team sports at much earlier ages than their heterosexual peers?” Wells said.

As this was not something that young girls experienced, they often found community through sports.

“But young gay and bisexual boys were often alienated and marginalized in team sport, and so we wanted to be able to do something to help to try to change the culture, shift the conversation,” he said.

As an Edmontonian, he decided to start in his hometown and with hockey. He approached the Edmonton Oilers and defenceman Andrew Ference, who was the first team captain of a professional sports team in North America to march in a Pride parade.

Ference told Wells and McLean that if they wanted to create Pride tape, it had to be professional quality, “as the pros won’t use anything less than the best.”

He also told them, “Don’t measure your success if you expect every player to use it. Because hockey players are superstitious, and they come from all kinds of backgrounds and beliefs.”

Wells said, “The whole idea for it was about bringing visibility into a space where LGBTQ athletes are often rendered invisible and silent, and we often say that the real power in Pride tape is not wrapping your stick, but it’s the conversation that it enables.”

The Edmonton Oilers were the first professional team to use it, and since then, it has only grown. With Ference and other NHL players’ help, they introduced Wells and McLean to ice hockey executive Brian Burke, who then shared the tape with other teams in the league.

“Pride tape has become one of the most visible symbols in the NHL, beyond perhaps the Stanley Cup, when people see Pride tape, they think of hockey, and they think of the National Hockey League, and the teams that have started to hold Pride nights that have evolved into what we’re here celebrating today, the third annual Pride Cup,” Wells said.

The goal is about making a safe space for everyone.

“We make Pride tape so one day we don’t have to make Pride tape, because it just won’t matter that, you know, when you walk into that locker room, you’re going to be accepted for who you are.”

There has been some pushback along the way, including when, in June 2023, the NHL banned Pride and other themed tape and special jerseys, including Pride jerseys, during warm-ups. This decision came after some NHL players chose not to participate in warm-ups for personal or religious reasons when their teams wore Pride jerseys.

Following fan outrage, the NHL reversed the decision in October.

“I think it’s one of the few times that, because of fans from all over the world, the NHL has ever reversed a decision it’s made, and that’s to the power of the people who said, I like to say, ‘You can ban Pride tape, but you can never ban Pride.’ Pride is here to stay, because it’s not about a product, it’s not about any one particular community. It’s about a movement, right? It’s about human rights,” Wells said.

Over the past 10 years, Wells has heard countless stories from hockey players about the impact the tape has had, from the NHL all the way down to peewee hockey.

One person told them that, “Pride tape didn’t just change my life, it saved my life, because I was on the verge of despair, until my teammates wrapped their sticks with Pride tape to show me that there was a space and a place for me, and they invited me to come back into the game, and through that, they were able to find the support that they needed.”

HEATED RIVALRY

Pride tape and the TV show Heated Rivalry are helping to drive a cultural shift in the game, but more work needs to be done.

Heated Rivalry is based on Canadian author Rachel Reid’s six-book series, Game Changers. The first season of the show starts with Book 2 in the series and follows enemies-turned-lovers Shane Hollander and Illya Rozanov.

The series touches on several topics, including the challenges of being in a same-sex relationship and being part of the LGBTQ+ community while playing professional hockey.

To this day, there are no openly gay or bisexual men in the NHL, Wells said.

“We know that hockey is one of the most heteronormative, hyper-masculine spaces that exists today, and the only way that’s going to change is by shifting culture,” Wells said. “And that’s not ever going to be one practice or one policy or even one player. It’s thousands of tiny practices and small, micro changes that shift the culture over time.”

“Anything that brings focus and attention to hockey and the importance of inclusion and the basic values of empathy and acceptance. And I think why Heated Rivalry is so successful, because ultimately, it’s just a story about love and overcoming those barriers to live a happy, fulfilled life.”

Every country where the TV series has debuted has also seen an uptick in Pride tape sales, Wells said.

The NHL can also learn a lot from the Professional Women’s Hockey League, where many players are openly Queer and fully accepted and loved by their teams and fans.

“That’s what shows you when you find the power of community, right, and that sense of belonging.” Well said.

To learn more about Pride tape visit, pridetape.com.

About the Author: Anna Burns

I cover breaking news, health care, court, Vancouver Rise FC, Vancouver Goldeneyes and social issues-related topics for the Surrey Now-Leader. anna.burns@surreynowleader.com Follow Anna on Twitter.

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