The Montreal Canadiens will celebrate diversity and inclusion on Saturday, April 16, as the team hosts its annual LGBTQ+ Night Out, in partnership with Scotiabank, when the Washington Capitals visit the Bell Centre.
As part of the National Hockey League's Hockey is for Everyone program, the evening will be an opportunity for the team to express its support for people of different sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions, and to highlight the importance of respect and inclusion of people from the lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer community in sport.
During warm-up, Canadiens players will show their support for the cause by putting multicoloured ribbon on their sticks and wearing a jersey with the progressive Pride flag. The iconic symbol of unity, originally created by Gilbert Baker in 1978, was redesigned in 2018 by non-binary artist Daniel Quasar, who incorporated the transgender flag and added black and brown stripes to the traditionally six-color rainbow. Placed in a chevron shape to symbolize the need to move forward, these new colors represent the singular experience of the most marginalized people within the LGBTQ+ community, such as queer people of color, trans and gender non-conforming people, and those living with HIV/AIDS.
These unique sticks and shirts are already up for auction at lgbtq.encanpro.ca, and the public will have until Tuesday, April 19 at 8pm to bid on these collectibles. To reiterate their commitment to investing in partnerships and programs that build a stronger, more inclusive society, Scotiabank has chosen to propel this auction with an additional $10,000 donation to this initiative. All proceeds from the auction will be donated to You Can Play, a non-profit organization fighting homophobia in sport, and GRIS-Montreal, a research and social intervention group that demystifies homosexuality, bisexuality and gender identities in schools.
Fans wishing to show their colors can also purchase sweatshirts, t-shirts and accessories from the "Pride" collection on the Tricolore Sports online store. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of these items will also be donated to You Can Play and GRIS-Montreal.
