Kevin Downey Jr. at PJ Media has a good commentary on the story of Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov, who is being savaged by LGBTQ activists and woke sports writers for refusing to wear a rainbow “pride” jersey before a hockey game.

https://pjmedia.com/columns/kevindowneyjr/2023/01/19/kiss-my-straight-white-hockey-loving-a-the-lgbt-schizoids-need-to-sit-this-one-out-n1663260

The team had ordered it as part of a gay pride night promotion. Provorov is Russian Orthodox and would not violate his religious beliefs. He said after the game, “I respect everybody’s choices. My choice is to stay true to myself and my religion. That’s all I’m going to say.”

But that wasn’t all that was said about him. Some sports writers are melting the ice with all their foaming at the mouth about what a hateful, homophobic bigot Provorov is, and demanding that he be fired and the Flyers fined a million dollars for not showing ironclad fealty to the gay rights agenda. Well, if they really feel that people should lose their jobs for being intolerant bigots, then why aren’t they on the unemployment line right now? Why are their employers keeping such repellent religious bigots on the payroll?

I assume they also defended the players who refused to stand for the National Anthem. I guess they think allegiance to BLM is sacred, but religious beliefs are not.

Three cheers for Provorov for refusing to be bullied into betraying his beliefs. I think the vast majority of fans agree with him, judging from comments online and the fact that his jersey is currently sold out at the online merch store.

Incidentally, Greg Gutfeld made a great point. He said he wished that Provorov hadn’t even brought up his religious beliefs because he shouldn't have had to cite that to justify his decision. It’s reason enough that he did not want to submit to his employer compelling him to endorse political or social statements that have no connection with his job.

Unlike Colin Kaepernick, he didn’t say anything that might cause problems for his employer. He didn’t denounce gay people. He just declined to actively and publicly endorse a political statement unrelated to his job that he opposes. That’s a basic First Amendment right.

And if the jerks attacking him disagree, then what if the Flyers held a Republican night and ordered every player to wear a MAGA cap? Would they savage any player who declined? If not, then please do the world a favor and shut up.