Do LGBT Pride Games Stop Homophobic Language in Sport?

Ice hockey, as a sport, has received praise for its efforts to promote the inclusion of gay and bisexual men, and more recently, lesbian and bisexual women and transgender people (Heraux 2019). The sport also pioneered the ‘pride game’ concept (also sometimes called pride nights), which are regularly scheduled, rainbow-themed games held to promote the inclusion of LGBT people in sport. Despite these efforts, the lack of openly gay male professional hockey players and evidence that homophobic language remains common in the sport suggests approaches being used may need to be reconsidered. This paper examines if pride games, which have been adopted globally, are an effective way to drive change to homophobic language. This research responds to the need for pragmatic, evidence-based intervention approaches that can be used to reduce harm to LGBT people from homophobic behaviour in sport.