Blues announce initiatives for Pride Month

The St. Louis Blues are celebrating Pride Month in a variety of ways throughout June.

On Sunday, June 25, Blues hockey personnel and alumni, Louie, Blue Crew and front office staff for the St. Louis Blues, Enterprise Center and Stifel Theatre will participate in the STL Grand Pride Parade in downtown St. Louis.

In addition, fans can celebrate Pride on Friday, June 16 during the Pride Night Skate at Centene Community Ice Center. The event will feature ice skating, music and giveaways. Tickets are $15 (bring your own skates) or $20 (with skate rental) and are on sale now at centenecommunityicecenter.com.

The front office staff will also participate in several volunteer opportunities throughout the month, including a Metro Trans Umbrella Group Garden Clean Up 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.

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.

"We value the opportunity that Pride Month provides the St. Louis Blues to demonstrate our year-round commitment to making hockey and our community a welcoming and inclusive environment for everyone," said Chris Zimmerman, Blues President and CEO of Business Operations. "Participating in the annual Grand Pride Parade that passes by our building has become a yearly highlight for our organization and we appreciate the opportunity to partner with and learn from local LGBTQIA+ organizations throughout the year to continually enhance our Hockey is for Everyone initiative."

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 event typically features a special theme ticket giveaway with sales from a Blues Pride T-Shirt and commemorative Pride Night pucks benefitting LGBTQIA+ advocacy organizations such as Pride STL and the You Can Play Project. The most recent event on April 4 against the Philadelphia Flyers at Enterprise Center generated more than $17,000 in funds for non-profits that support LGBTQIA+ causes. Beyond Pride Night, the Blues have relationships with organizations such as SQSH, Safe Zone, 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.