Fourth Annual Seattle Pride Classic Provides Safe Space for LGBTQ+ Hockey Community

While warmer weather failed to herald a postseason campaign for the Kraken, there’s still plenty of meaningful hockey being played in Seattle. 

Last weekend, the Kraken Community Iceplex welcomed the largest Pride hockey tournament in the world to its rinks, the fourth annual Seattle Pride Classic. Hosted by the nonprofit Seattle Pride Hockey Association (SPHA), 20 rainbow-clad teams of varying skill– composed exclusively of members and allies of the LGBTQ+ community– took to the ice from dawn until dusk to celebrate Pride month. 

Six times the size of the event’s inaugural run, this year stood as the Classic’s biggest iteration yet, both on the ice and in the stands, testament to the region’s hunger for queer hockey spaces.

Seventy percent of the tournament’s 300 participants identified as LGBTQ+ with many traveling to attend from around the world including Canada and Australia. Applications opened first to LGBTQ+ players in February and nearly sold out before the remaining spots were filled when registration opened to everybody a week later. A substantial waitlist has already accrued for next year’s event. 

Attendance at games was sparse at times but skyrocketed for the All-Stars of Pride game, pitting the tournament’s best head-to-head for a rousing grand finale. Giant neon signs thrust into the air for every goal, every save, and fans could be heard chatting the specifics of the game, assessing the fluidity of skater’s strides and commitment to tough plays. Seattle Kraken, Vancouver Canucks, and Kamloops Blazers gear could be spotted among the masses. 

Despite the presence of some big names– like Luke Prokop, Nashville Predators prospect and the first openly gay player in the NHL– the most striking feature of the tournament was that it felt normal. And for some attendees, normalcy is the most important thing the Seattle Pride Classic offers. It’s a privilege. 

“Queer hockey is a safe place. I just get to worry about hockey.” 

Wyatt, 32, heard about the event from friends and flew in from Madison, Wisconsin to participate. Originally from Boston, the Seattle Pride Classic marked his first trip to the West Coast, albeit, not his first time playing in a queer tournament. On first impression, between hockey’s growing local popularity– like recent campaigns for a PWHL team– as well the city’s cultural inclination toward acceptance, Wyatt finds Seattle a fitting setting for the event.  

“To have a tournament like this you have to offer it in a place that’s a safer community, and I’ve been lucky with that. I know there’s other places that you don’t get that experience, but they usually aren’t offering large-scale queer tournaments,” he said. “Even though I’m out of my home rink, I feel safe.”

Contrary to queer tournaments in the past, Wyatt feels comfortable enough to don a nameplate on his jersey and to be interviewed, no longer fearful of harassment or losing his job because of his identity. But he points out that tolerance is still far from an expectation in the sport anywhere it’s played, even where it is marketed to be. Hollow inclusivity efforts, like the NHL’s swift reversal of the Pride Tape ban only after public backlash, have left some members of the LGBTQ+ community feeling tokenized. 

“I think this is a good faith effort. I hope that this is [the NHL and the Kraken] truly supporting us and not just a ‘corporate pride moment,’” Wyatt says. “That could be scandalous to say but I said it.”

Fan admission to the entirety of the tournament was free, achieved by financial support from sponsors of which the SPHA boasted an abundance. Despite attempts by the league earlier this season to walk back LGBTQ+ support, as with the Pride Tape and warm-up jersey bans, the NHL was listed among the event’s supporters. Pride Tape returned as guests for the third year in a row. Board advertisements were exchanged for their rainbow counterparts at the request of advertisers themselves, according to SPHA vice president Joey Gale.

Even so, caution is justified. Ensuring there’s progressive action to match progressive promises is crucial, which is why the tournament offers a merit-based scholarship to participants. 

Tournament hopefuls prevented from attending by financial barriers are encouraged to apply for the Matthew Campbell Memorial Scholarship. Recipients, like Wyatt, benefit from registration fees, housing, food, and transportation costs covered in full for embodying the SPHA’s values in their own lives– educating others, encouraging acceptance and inclusivity, and providing opportunities for those in similar positions to enjoy sports freely.

Volunteering to help run the tournament is a stipulation for scholarship acceptance. Eight are awarded in total. 

Fellow recipient Ella is a model for the kind of commitment to change the SPHA champions. A 21-year-old currently living in Edmonton, they’ve organized LGBTQ+ badminton and slow pitch teams at home to create safe spaces for queer individuals to enjoy the sports they love. Indigenous to Canada themselves, they also remain an outspoken advocate for the two-spirit community. 

Raised on hockey in their native Winnipeg, Ella is all too familiar with the toxicity prevalent in the sport and its exclusion of the queer community– that’s why they quit at 15. 

“Hockey culture is associated with toxic masculinity. I grew up playing women’s [leagues], but even within that I felt isolated from a lot of my teammates. I didn’t feel like I could really, truly be fully myself,” they said. “I’ve been with Edmonton’s queer team going on three years now, and it’s the first time in a very long time that I fell back in love with the sport.”

“[Queer hockey] is an environment where I feel like I can be myself and can just play the game.” 

Pride tournaments have been and will be held in Las Vegas, Palm Springs, Madison, Calgary, Mesa, New York City, Toronto, Minneapolis. St. Paul, Halifax, and Seattle this year alone. Although growing in popularity, they’re not the end goal for inclusivity. Rather, they’re an important step towards it. 

“I want it to be said that I don’t want to just play in Pride tournaments. I want the day where I can just go to any tournament and have this feeling, but that’s not the world we live in,” Ella says. “There’s an aspect of safety and security that is a feeling I’ve only found in this space of hockey so far.” 

Ella wants to see increased representation for indigenous LGBTQ+ individuals, and Wyatt acknowledges that people of color are not represented as strongly at tournaments like the Seattle Pride Classic as they should be. Even the queer community must continue to diversify, especially in a sport as expensive as hockey.

But current progress towards that inclusivity, exemplified by the Seattle Pride Classic, is encouraging.

“Different people are valued and need to be introduced into the sport because it’s a fantastic sport, and it can be such a great community and I am just so grateful that I live in a day and age that it is becoming safer to play and be who I am,” Wyatt adds. “This tournament has done such a good job of providing that space so far.”