Habs Pride on full display

MONTREAL - The colors of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer (LGBTQ+) rainbow contained an extra hint of bleu-blanc-rouge on Sunday, as members of the Canadiens, along with former Hab Georges Laraque and mascot Youppi!, joined in the city's annual Pride parade through the streets of downtown on Sunday.

Marching along with members and athletes from the Canadian Olympic Committee, members of You Can Play - an organization promoting equality and inclusion in sports regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity - representatives from the Montreal Impact, the Montreal Alouettes, and the NHL's Montreal offices, the Habs, clad in rainbow-colored Canadiens attire, joined dozens of other groups and organizations marching in the parade as it made its way along Rene Levesque boulevard.

For Laraque, participating in the parade was a chance to show support for people in sports who may still feel marginalized or experience discrimination.
"My message to sports fans is: as much as you love your sport, you should love every human being the same way. You look at the hockey team you cheer for, there are people coming from everywhere. We know that in sports, there is at least one homosexual per team, those are the stats. But they're afraid to come out because of the way society is," explained Laraque, who racked up 1,126 penalty minutes in 12 seasons with Edmonton, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, and the Canadiens. "Be accepting. If you're accepting of your team, you should be accepting of all the differences it has. A team is like the United Nations; people come from everywhere. If you love hockey, if you love sports, you should also love difference."
The Canadiens' participation in Pride is part of the team and the NHL's larger efforts at promoting respect and equality in hockey for the LGBTQ+ community. For the third year in a row, the Habs will dedicate a game at the Bell Centre in February to the theme of inclusion and diversity.
For more information on the Canadiens' involvement in the community, click here.For more information on You Can Play, click here.