NY Rangers criticized for decision to skip wearing 'Pride'-themed gear

Outrage over Rangers not wearing Pride gear on Pride Night

The New York Rangers have come in for criticism for not wearing Pride-themed jerseys and gear as part of the team's Pride Night celebration, despite promoting them before the game.

NEW YORK - Members of New York's LGBTQ+ community say they are outraged after the New York Rangers decided not to wear Pride-themed jerseys during the team's warmups last Friday, despite promoting that they would do so before the game.

The team was supposed to wear the jerseys and have rainbow tape on their hockey sticks during warm-ups against the Las Vegas Golden Knights, but instead wore their "Liberty Head" jerseys.

LGBTQ+ officials called the move a "bait-and-switch."

"The Rangers need to re-examine their organization's core values and who truly needs the support," said David Kilmnick, President of the New York LGBT Network. "The Rangers should come forward and come out with the real reasons they didn't follow through on their promise to the LGBTQ community and hold those people accountable."

The incident comes a little more than a week after Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov chose not to take part in the pregame skate with his teammates because wearing the Flyers' LGBTQ+ Pride Night warmup jersey conflicted with his religious beliefs.

After the game, the Rangers said in a statement: "Our organization respects the LGBTQ+ community and we are proud to bring attention to important local community organizations as part of another great Pride Night. In keeping with our organization's core values, we support everyone's individual right to respectfully express their beliefs."