NHL reverses ban on rainbow Pride stick tape; LGBTQ group calls it 'a win for us all'



The National Hockey League has reversed its recent ban on rainbow Pride stick tape.

What are the details?

The NHL, players’ union, and an inclusion committee agreed Tuesday to give players the option to represent social causes with stick tape during warm-ups, practices, and games, the Associated Press reported.

More from the AP:

Pride nights became a hot-button issue in hockey after six players chose not to participate in pregame warmups last season when their team wore rainbow-themed jerseys. Teams this season are not allowed to wear any kind of theme jerseys, including military appreciation and Hockey Fights Cancer, for warmups.

The tape ban drew criticism from players around the league, longtime executive Brian Burke and others. Philadelphia’s Scott Laughton told reporters he’d probably use it anyway, and Arizona’s Travis Dermott defied the ban over the weekend by putting rainbow-colored tape on his stick for a game.

The NHL Players’ Association said it was “pleased to see the league’s policy has been revised so that players are free to support causes they believe in," the outlet added.

The makers of Pride Tape said on social media regarding the reversal, “We are so very grateful to everyone who believes hockey should be a safe, inclusive and welcoming space for all. We are extremely happy that NHL players will now have the option to voluntarily represent important social causes with their stick tape throughout season," the AP also reported.

The You Can Play Project — which advocates for LGBTQ+ participation in sports and has partnered with the NHL for a decade — called the reversal “a win for us all," the outlet noted.

“Actively welcoming communities into hockey is imperative to keep the sport strong now and into the future,” You Can Play said in a statement, according to the AP. “We appreciate every person, team and organization that made their voice heard to support this change and appreciate the NHL’s willingness to listen and make the right choice.”

Anything else?

Last season, then-Philadelphia Flyers player Ivan Provorov cited his Russian Orthodox faith when he refused to skate before a Pride Night game since his teammates were wearing LBGTQ colors.

Readers of Blaze News may recall that a number of sports journalists were upset by Provorov's stance, including E.J. Hradek — senior reporter for the NHL Network — who suggested Provorov could "go back" to Russia and "maybe get involved" in the war against Ukraine if he didn't want to wear rainbow colors.

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Kohl's and Target exposed for pouring money into LGBT group that seeks to indoctrinate children with gender ideology and undermine parental rights



Retail chains Target and Kohl's are presently facing conservative "Bud-lighting" boycotts for targeting children with LGBT activist apparel. It appears that kids' fashion is not the only thing these woke companies seek to change.

Kohl's and Target have both poured significant amounts of money into an organization that pushes gender ideology on children as well as policies that undermine parental rights.

GLSEN

The Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network is a New York-based organization that promotes gender ideology and sex-change acceptance in K-12 schools throughout the country.

The group appears committed to:

  • transforming teachers into LGBT doctrinaires;
  • incorporating gender ideology and pro-sex-change content into school curricula as a means of raising "the awareness of all students";
  • pressuring schools to implement activist-approved policies, thereby ensuring classrooms accommodate their social-constructivist dogmas; and
  • weaponizing student-led clubs to buttress their pressure campaigns.

Where indoctrination is concerned, GLSEN insists that "students of all ages must be given an opportunity to learn that the words 'gay,' 'lesbian,' and 'transgender' are adjectives that should be used with respect" and that "it is never too early for schools to set up a foundation of understanding and respect" for non-straight sexual preferences.

Fox News Digital reported that one of the books in GLSEN's "Rainbow Library," provided to ideologically compliant schools free of charge, is titled, "Beyond Magenta."

Here is an excerpt from this particular book, which describes a 6-year-old child as "sexually mature": "I was sexually mature. What I mean by sexually mature is that I knew about sex. From six and up, I used to kiss other guys in my neighborhood, make out with them, and perform oral sex on them. I liked it. I used to love oral. And I touched their you-know-whats. We were really young, but that's what we did ..."

In addition to peddling LGBT propaganda that sexualizes children, the organization also pushes for elementary school children to "explore" their "gender identity and expression"; transvestic boys to be included in girls' sports; teachers to teach that sex and gender are distinct; and the use of false pronouns from an earlier age.

GLSEN also seeks for gender ideology to be integrated into all subjects, including math.

In addition to sowing confusion, the organization insists on keeping kids' primary sources of clarity in the dark.

The Daily Caller highlighted a GLSEN guide from 2022, in which the organization stressed the importance of teachers hiding information about a student's so-called "gender identity" from parents and guardians.

"The fact that a student chooses to use a different name, to transition at school, or to disclose their gender identity to staff, educators, or other students does not authorize school staff to disclose a student's personally identifiable or medical information to anyone," says the report.

According to Parents Defending Education, GLSEN "uses a 'youth safety' message to achieve political goals."

Melanie Willingham-Jaggers, the executive director of GLSEN, said in a January 2022 interview, "LGBTQ+ young people in schools and their student groups, like GSAs, have always been the hub, kind of the breeding ground, the soil from which these sparks of activism come up," adding, "What we understand is that young people — period — are going to help us understand the vision forward and the way forward to the future."

Kohl's and Target pay to undermine parental rights and normalcy

Target — recently called out for peddling LGBT onesies for babies, "tuck-friendly" bathing suits, drag queen books for kids, and Satanic agitprop — has long partnered with GLSEN.

The company states on its corporate DEI page, "We're proud to partner with GLSEN for more than a decade, working to ensure all students have a safe place to learn. Target annually supports GLSEN and its mission to create affirming, accessible and antiracist spaces for LGBTQIA+ students."

Fox News Digital reported that Target has donated at least $2.1 million to the indoctrination group.

Kohl's, which has over 1,100 stores in 49 states, announced in December that it had doled out $5 million to various groups. Among these groups was GLSEN, which Kohl's awarded a $35,000 grant.

The company indicated that these funds would go toward "the organization’s Education and Youth Services initiatives, which produce research-based tools that enhance educator and student capacity to create the kinds of respectful affirming and LGBTQIA+ inclusive classrooms and schools that every child deserves."

TheBlaze previously reported that Kohl's underscored in its 2022 ESG report that it is in the business of woke evangelization, stating, "We believe embedding DEI in everything we do requires an ongoing journey of listening, learning, and taking action."

The corporate leadership behind Kohl's is not interested in just selling toddler-wear inscribed with transsexual slogans, but "embracing opportunities to address racial, gender, sexual orientation, and economic disparities."

One of the company's stated goals is to commit $20 million "to diverse communities from 2022 to 2025," including members of the so-called "LGBTQIA+" community, noting it had already committed roughly $8 million of that goal last year.

The two companies appear have been rewarded for their carriage of LGBT activist gear and financial support of gender ideology in schools.

Forbes noted that Kohl's was ranked as a top 50 company last year on DiversityInc's Top Companies for LGBTQ Employees, "the standard metric in ESG reports on the internal policies of a company." Target was ranked #4.

Both companies were also recognized for their compliance with perfect Corporate Equality Index scores from the Human Rights Campaign, a powerful LGBT lobby group.

Willingham-Jaggers, who calls herself "non-binary," is upset that her outfit, which undoubtedly aided with the woke companies' ESG scores, is now being scrutinized. She claimed over the weekend that recent efforts to highlight GLSEN's indoctrination efforts and the organization's ties with big businesses amounted to "attacks."

Willingham-Jaggers said in a statement, "These recent attacks from right-wing extremists show how important and necessary the work that we do is."

The GLSEN executive director added, "We cannot let a violent, angry minority hold our democracy, our school system, or our community hostage. As GLSEN and LGBTQ+ people continue to face attacks, we’re committed to our mission and to the students that rely on us, and we’ll continue to fight to ensure that every single student can go to school free from fear."

Another LGBT activist outfit, GLAAD, similarly got its dander up about GLSEN's exposure.

GLAAD president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said, "Right-wing media spread dangerous lies about GLSEN yesterday and put a target on them. ... The inaccurate and hateful attacks on our friends at GLSEN are reprehensible."

It is unclear whether Willingham-Jaggers and Ellis regard quotes from their organizations' materials as constituting "attacks."

Woke corporations are finding this out: Tomi Lahren youtu.be

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Horowitz: Conservatives are finally winning a culture war. Time to double down.



Historically, even when conservatives appear to be temporarily winning on some issue, it’s really a sign of losing ground long-term to every leftward shift of the Overton window of politics. For example, as we temporarily appear to be winning on one cultural onslaught of the left, it’s only because we long ceded the previous battle, leaving leftists with new territory to claim, which they inexorably do. However, there are signs that with the transgender obsession, the Overton window might be shifting to the right – for the first time ever!

According to a brand-new Pew poll, 60% of Americans believe gender is determined at birth, as opposed to 38% who say otherwise. Now that might be cause for alarm because, after all, how could 38% of people believe in something so insane? However, when you consider the fact that just five years ago, those number were only 54%-44%, it for once demonstrates we are moving in the right direction.

Not surprisingly, black respondents had the highest share of people who believe in Genesis and science regarding gender, which might explain the slow but steady bleed of Democrats among black voters.

We already saw this dynamic earlier this year when Governor Ron DeSantis leaned into the war against Disney. After he fought back against the company’s opposition to the anti-grooming bill, polls showed even Democrat voters agreed with the bill, which is now being copied in other states. DeSantis emerged from the fight smelling like a rose, while Disney lost its image as a family-friendly organization. Typically, the minute they face name-calling and boycotts, Republicans run away like children scared of a barking dog. DeSantis called the leftist bluff.

In other words, this fight is actually something Republicans should embrace rather than avoid. What we have seen over the past year or so is a willingness to finally deal with the gender bending in many red-state legislatures and to go on offense to stop the grooming in our schools and broader society. Actually fighting back on issues works wonders. For once, by not agreeing to the premise of a Democrat culture war, we are enjoying the results of a shifting political landscape. It appears that this is the first time in a generation we are actually winning a culture war battle.

What the lessons of our failures and successes of the past generation demonstrate is that you cannot retreat, concede, or acquiesce your way out of the culture war. They will take as much as you are willing to cede, and there is no limit. There is, therefore, no neutrality in this intractable war. You either tilt the education system in the direction you want it to be, or it will consume your children with grooming. This is why it’s not enough for Republican governors and legislatures to merely reject transgender education or critical race theory. They must lean into the curriculum and propose an affirmatively pro-family and pro-American agenda.

Governor DeSantis is leading the way by partnering with Hillsdale College to train Florida’s teachers on American history. Each teacher got a $3,000 bonus for attending curriculum training that is antithetical to what teachers in other states learn at similar seminars.

In other words, we need our own “pride month,” whether it be for liberty pride or family pride. We need to promote our values with as much gusto as the cultural Marxists embed their agenda into every aspect of society.

This obviously begins by treating grooming like the new KKK and drumming it out of all areas of society. Every red state needs to ban all transgender material at libraries and in schools and to criminalize stripping or “drag” events for children that we have seen even in places like Dallas. Texas state Rep. Bryan Slaton is promising to introduce legislation next session to ban drag shows in the state. This is something states should move on immediately and strike while the iron is hot.

Moreover, states must now contend with the Department of Education’s edict hitting up schools for sexual harassment if they don’t refer to men who think they are women as women. The Title IX regulation promulgated by Biden last month would also force any school accepting federal funds to abolish separate bathrooms.

It is shocking that several weeks later, the red states have not immediately banned all enforcement of this regulation. Is it too much to stand up for our daughters when it is popular? It’s like the incident in Loudoun County, Virginia, when a male student in a skirt sexually assaulted a girl in a bathroom, never happened. Where is the sense of urgency?

Instead, NBC is reporting that Mitch McConnell believes the way to win back suburban voters from places like northern Virginia is to take their foot “off the gas” on cultural issues! In other words, McConnell and Co. believe that we are the ones with the radical views, not the modern-day Wokestan.

For far too long, Republicans and even conservatives have convinced themselves that transhumanism is in vogue and that family values are outdated. It has worn down their resolve. We constantly see conservative authors and websites referring to men by female names or regurgitating the ridiculous gibberish of the ever-expanding alphabet soup acronym of sexual fetishes as if it’s a sacred term of art.

Indeed, the time has come to capitalize on the recent wins against the transhumanist cultural Marxists. The days when, for example, Republicans would respond to marriage being destroyed by the Supreme Court with “no comment” are over. You can only win a fight, even against an unpopular opponent, if you actually get on the field.

Commentary: Drag Queen Story Hour: An organization that preaches being yourself … as long as that’s what THEY want you to be



It turns out Drag Queen Story Hour isn’t just an organic movement sprouting up out of nowhere – there’s an entire organization behind it online.

When you go to the Drag Queen Story Hour website, the first thing that pops up is an opportunity to donate to the organization. Once you click that link, you’re brought to an external PayPal link that allows you to set up monthly donations to the organization. The minimum preset amount is $25, or you can set a custom amount that you want to donate. On the homepage it says, “DQSH (Drag Queen Story Hour) captures the imagination and play of the gender fluidity of childhood and gives kids glamorous, positive, and unabashedly queer role models.”

The website also states that story hour is “where dress up is real.” Remember when you were a kid and you dressed up as a princess or a soldier? I wish I could go back and dress up as a billionaire – you know, since dress-up is real.

This will make your jaw drop: There are 26 states that have DQSH chapters in their cities: Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

This will make you weep: Of those 26 states, 14 of them voted for Trump for president at least once in the last two presidential elections.

Every state that has a chapter has two to five cities that host. While we’re focused on what’s happening in the news or what’s happening in our own lives, the organizers have taken over half the states and gotten them to host their events that groom children to “be themselves.”

Except they really don’t want to let them be themselves at all.

When I was younger, my parents always encouraged me to do what I wanted to do with my life, but there were always limitations. For example, I wanted to play guitar, but to my dismay, I couldn’t just pick up a guitar and play seamlessly. I had to take lessons. When we’re children, our options are endless due to imagination, but that doesn’t mean that they’re all attainable. How many of you wanted to be doctors when you were kids, but then grew up and realized how much schooling and money that would cost? In other words, as we were growing up, we had to learn that chasing our dreams comes with a cost.

But when it comes to DQSH, kids aren’t taught to be themselves at all, or even to work hard to realize their dreams. They’re taught they have to become someone else entirely – someone other than what God made them. Including that boys can become girls and girls can become boys.

Just look at some of the books the New York chapter of DGSH recommends:

  • "Red: A Crayon Story": A story about a crayon that is red on the outside, but blue on the inside, and he decides that that’s okay to follow what he knows in his heart to be true, no matter his wrapping.
  • "Julian Is a Mermaid": A story about a boy who dreams of being a female mermaid.
  • "Worm Loves Worm": A story about two worms and everyone’s wondering who will wear the dress, or who will wear the tux, but it doesn’t matter.

So, how do we combat this? We have to put our time and effort into offering something better. I started contacting my local libraries to ask them if I could host a Christian Kids Story Hour. I went to the bookstore, bought some Christian children’s books, and plan to read them to as many listening ears as I can. We need to welcome children into an environment that doesn’t ask them to change, that doesn’t ask them to reject real science, and shows them that God loves them as they are – no matter how broken, whether boy or girl.

I’ll admit, I’ve gotten turned down. Okay, I’ve gotten turned down a lot. However, I’ve officially scheduled my first Christian Kids Story Hour, and I’m excited. I’m doing it out of my own pocket, without asking for donations. Just trying to shine a light in the darkness where I live. How long can they keep turning us down if more of us do the same?