The last we reported on former MMA fighter Jake Shields was his challenging “the 10 toughest trans men in the world to a fight” last year, The only enjoyable aspect was trans wrestler Mack Beggs accepting the challenge with a series of taunts.
The stunt fights, of course, never came off, though it did confirm that Shields is a transphobe. We now know that he’s not wild about the LGBQ part of our community (he opposes gay parents, for example) and is now is triggered by rainbow tape on hockey sticks.
Last week, the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers held their Pride Night and sent a tweet that proudly showed players showing their support by wrapping their sticks with Pride Tape.
Gearing up for tonight with @PrideTape 🌈 pic.twitter.com/RM9bp4A8dF
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) January 18, 2024
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This small show of support did not sit well with Shields, who retweeted the Oilers’ post by saying “hockey is gay as f—.” Of course, the comments from some of his 609,000 followers were about what you’d expect (think “cesspool”).
The irony in all of this is that the NHL is far from “gay as f***” as any sport in the U.S. It’s the only men’s pro team league that has never had a gay player come out, current or retired. It banned Pride jerseys this season after a few players complained and banned Pride Tape until the outcry became too strong to ignore. It’s so not gay that Commissioner Gary Bettman was named our “Asshole of the Year.”
I wish hockey was as gay as people like Shields and those homophobes like him seem to think it is. Then they’d really have something to be triggered about.
