The National Hockey League has selected outspoken anti-transgender singer Kid Rock as its performer for the league’s 2018 All-Star Game, smack dab in the middle of the league’s disingenuous “Hockey Is For Everyone” month.

Kid Rock made it perfectly clear at a concert last September that he doesn’t believe transgender people exist, and that they should be forced to use restrooms where they will feel unsafe and face a higher risk of attack.

“Things shouldn’t be this complicated,” he said while vocally supporting marriage equality. “And no, you don’t get to choose because whatever you have between your legs should determine the bathroom that you use.”

Kid Rock’s attitude about bathrooms reflects the NHL’s decision to host its Draft in Dallas before the specter of an anti-transgender bathroom bill had faded in the state.

The performance will come in the middle of what the NHL has deemed “Hockey Is For Everyone” month. Unfortunately, decisions the league has made in the last 10 months — including a failure to suspend a player for using a gay slur and its rush to bring the NHL Draft to Dallas — have made it more clear that hockey is not, in fact, for everyone. The league is also the only pro sports league in North America that hasn’t had at least one current or former player or coach come out publicly as LGBTQ.

The selection of Kid Rock is particularly stark in contrast to other leagues’ recent selection of performers including:

  • The NFL selecting Justin Timberlake as its halftime show headliner for Super Bowl LII
  • The NBA’s selection of John Legend as its 2017 All-Star Game performer
  • The NFL selecting Lady Gaga for its Super Bowl LI halftime show headliner

In the coming weeks the NHL will again roll out its disingenuous “Hockey Is For Everyone” campaign… with an outspoken transphobic supporter of Donald Trump as its centerpiece.

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