Hockey Is For (Jamie Benn’s Transphobia) Everyone
If you haven’t been awake recently, the newest target for hate in North American sports, is the attack on transgender rights.
Laws have been proposed, and Donald Trump himself put out a rallying cry to ban transgender women from women’s sports.
We also have the ever impressive array of hockey players willing to out themselves as hateful, despite the ever-present performative activism of the NHL’s “Hockey is for Everyone” campaign.
The most recent person to raise their hand and show the NHL they aren’t interested in sports or hockey being for everyone is Dallas Stars forward Jamie Benn.
Benn outed himself Tuesday when he liked an Instagram post by hate speech specialist Candace Owens, who posted “Biological men shouldn’t be allowed to compete in women’s sports.”
Benn, for the record, is the captain of the Dallas Stars. Most would consider the captain as a representative and leader among a team.
How do we know the NHL’s players are not committed to equity and inclusion? Well, here’s a picture of Jamie Benn ‘posing’ for a Pride Tape promo in 2018. He’s the one second from the left.
Thank you to the @NHLPA for using your voice to speak up for equality and inclusion. You’ve announced to the world that everyone is welcome on the ice! #HockeyIsForEveryone 🏒🏳️🌈 pic.twitter.com/V7hai6alo2
— Pride Tape (@PrideTape) March 20, 2018
The current divide in the United States, weaponizing sport against trans people is horrifying.
Minnesota and Wisconsin have sought to make it criminal, with an individual facing charges for transgender women competing in school women’s sports. More than a dozen US states are looking into similar bills.
All of this coming after President Joe Biden signed an executive order barring the discrimination of anyone based on sexual orientation or gender identity, making specific reference to Title IX, which ushered in equal opportunities for women in University and College sports.
Benn is a perfect example of an individual who tricked some into believing that he supports the notion of “Hockey Is For Everyone.”
In fact, one of his most recent Tweets praised Bayne Pettinger, former Hockey Canada manager of operations and current hockey agent, who also happens to be gay.
Transphobia and homophobia are two very different things, and it appears that Benn is not aware of what each colour on the Pride Tape he performatively used to showcase himself as an false-ally actually means.
In 2015, Benn spoke on a radio show on The Ticket, and made comments that were then considered homophobic, referencing an incest relationship between Vancouver Canucks twins Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin.
Who was Benn’s right hand man in the interview? Well, it was another Dallas Stars forward with a history of making homophobic comments, Tyler Seguin.
It’s getting harder in today’s society to tell what is performance, what is part of ‘woke capitalism,’ and what is genuine concern for the well being, and rights of others. It’s not difficult to see where Benn sits on trans rights.
Hockey, as a game, is wonderful. The culture of exclusivity within hockey is not. The hockey world can continue to shout that racism, transphobia, homophobia, misogyny, and other issues do not exist…or, the hockey world can say, “this game is too wonderful to not find a way to make it accessible, safe, and enjoyable for everyone.”
Absolutely everyone.
Today, hockey isn’t for everyone, hockey is for transphobia. And if the NHL doesn’t come up with tangible action, including education and a way to remediate the damage done by Jamie Benn, then the future of the sport, which will depend on diversity, is doomed.
By Ian Kennedy
Line Change is an article series produced by CKSN.ca through the contributions and consultation of various authors and academics, looking at social issues in sport. The series, which aims to open discussion with sports fans, will focus on issues of inequality, and serve as a portion of our anti-oppression education and reporting. Line Change will look at issues related to racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, gender inequality, socioeconomic divides, and much more, as they relate to sport and athletics.