Blues announce initiatives for Pride Month

The St. Louis Blues are celebrating Pride Month in many ways throughout the month of June.

On Sunday, June 30, the celebration will culminate in Blues hockey personnel and alumni, Louie, Blue Crew, and front office staff for the St. Louis Blues, Enterprise Center, and Stifel Theatre participating in the STL Grand Pride Parade in downtown St. Louis.

In addition to their presence at the parade, the front office staff is engaging in several community initiatives. Staff have begun this effort by volunteering and assisting with meal fulfillment for Food Outreach, Inc., which aims to provide nutritional support for men, women and children living with HIV/AIDS or cancer. Staff are also celebrating with organized trips to several LGBTQIA+ owned businesses in the community, along with training sessions surrounding allyship, equity, and inclusion.

Pride Month is part of the NHL's year-round Hockey is for Everyone initiative, which aims to make the game more inclusive to everyone regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, gender identity or expression, disability, sexual orientation or socio-economic status.

“It is vital to create a culture of inclusion and acceptance within our organization,” said Chief People Officer Jamie Sackman. “We are committed to fostering an environment where everyone who enters our buildings—be it our employees or our fans—is respected and honored for exactly who they are. We value the opportunity that Pride Month gives us to take our activism out of our venues and into the community. We are excited to join the annual Grand Pride Parade once again, and celebrate the spectrum of everyone who calls our city home, and the Blues their team.”

The Blues host an annual Pride Night during the NHL season and were one of the League's first teams to do so back in 2017. The most recent event took place on Feb. 22 against the New York Islanders. The event features a special theme ticket giveaway, each including a $5 donation. $1,110 was raised and was split between You Can Play and Pride STL. More funds were raised through the sale of mystery pucks that benefitted You Can Play and PrideSTL. Additionally, representatives from PROMO and PFLAG onsite to speak with fans and distribute educational materials. Pride tape was also provided, and was utilized by a number of players during on-ice warm ups. 

Beyond Pride Night, the Blues have relationships with organizations such as SQSH, Safe Zone, PROMO, and PFLAG. The Blues also feature one of the most robust LGBTQIA+ Employee Resource Groups in the NHL, developing informational programming and activities to promote inclusion on a year-round basis.