The St. Louis Blues defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 this past Tuesday to seize a 3-1 series lead in their Western Conference Quarterfinal matchup. On a normal night, the prevailing storylines coming out of the game would have been focusing on the Blues being on the cusp of their first postseason series win since 2012 and the defending Stanley Cup champions being on the brink of a first-round exit.
But on this night, almost all the focus was directed toward Chicago forward Andrew Shaw’s meltdown at the end of regulation.
With 2:04 left in the third period and his team trailing by one, Shaw was called for a two-minute penalty for interference. It was pretty blatant interference and a call that should have been made, but Shaw was absolutely livid—perhaps due in part to his realization that he likely cost his team any chance of scoring the equalizer and forcing overtime.
Whatever the reason, Shaw went ballistic at the refs, flashing the double birds and directing vulgarities at them from the penalty box, which included a homophobic slur. There was no audio of the incident, but you don’t have to be a top-notch lip reader to figure out what he said.
Rightfully, his antics drew a flurry of backlash, with most of it centered on the homophobic slur. As a result, the NHL hit Shaw with a one-game suspension and a $5,000 fine for the slur and his gestures toward the officials.
The NHL has been more proactive than its pro sport counterparts (NFL, NBA and MLB) in terms of combating homophobia. This is a league, after all, that three years ago officially partnered with the “You Can Play” campaign, the goal of which is to eradicate homophobia in sports.
So when Shaw got caught uttering a homophobic slur on national television during a playoff game, the NHL made the only move it possibly could. It was the first time in league history a player had been suspended for using homophobic language, which is what made it so important. Letting Shaw off with just a small fine or no punishment at all would have set a horrible precedent for potential future incidents. To take no action would have been akin to spitting in the face of the “You Can Play” initiative.
When push came to shove, the NHL did the right thing in the face of mounting public criticism of Shaw. Unfortunately and predictably, there was also a fair amount of backlash to the backlash.
Defenders of Shaw could easily be found on social media, using a wide range of excuses for him.
“Just another example of the PC police and the wussification of America.”
“If you don’t like it, go watch figure skating.”
“You can’t hold him responsible, it was in the heat of the moment.”
“Don’t crucify Shaw, that kind of stuff happens all the time.”
The list of justifications and excuses for Shaw’s actions was long, but each entry is problematic and ignores the extremely pressing issue of homophobia in sports.
There is absolutely no question that sports have a major homophobia problem. The severity ranges from sport to sport, but the hyper-masculine nature of sports in general has left it lagging well behind the rest of society in this particular area.
An international study released last May found that among the six countries that were studied (the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Ireland and New Zealand), the U.S. fared the worst in terms of sports homophobia and discrimination.
There have certainly been signs of progress in recent years. Nearly three years ago, NBA player Jason Collins became the first active athlete in any of the four North American professional sports leagues to come out as gay. One year later, Michael Sam became the first openly gay player to be selected in the NFL Draft. Both men were trailblazers that opened the door for other athletes to come out, and that is obviously a big step in the right direction.
But it’s not enough. Not even close to enough.
Far too many athletes still live in fear of revealing their sexual orientation to their teammates because of the hyper-masculine and homophobic culture that permeates locker rooms all across the country. And this brings us back to Shaw.
As long as players like Shaw are casually using homophobic slurs as an insult, there will be many gay athletes who won’t come out of the closet due to fears of the reactions of their teammates. That’s a problem.
Dismissing the outrage over Shaw’s slur as just another case of political correctness gone awry, the favorite buzzwords of people who are resistant to change, only reinforces homophobia’s place in sports. That’s a problem.
Chalking up the incident to a simple case of Shaw getting caught up in the “heat of the moment” is counterproductive as well. There is no question that the crushingly intense atmosphere of playoff hockey can cause a player to say something they normally wouldn’t. But in this heated moment, Shaw’s go-to insult was a homophobic slur. That’s a problem.
And trying to downplay the incident by pointing out that this kind of thing probably happens all the time is unacceptable and irresponsible. If it’s true that this sort of thing happens all the time, that’s all the more reason for the league to act and for fans to vocally express their disapproval. Eradicating homophobia from sports has no simple solution, but the league handing down a punishment when these incidents occur and fans voicing their displeasure can definitely help.
Andrew Shaw's meltdown Tuesday night was unfortunate and can't be tolerated. But this isn't some isolated incident that begins and ends with Shaw. This merely highlights a much larger problem throughout hockey and beyond.
One of the great things about sports is that it can be used as an agent for positive social change under certain circumstances. Unfortunately in the case of gay acceptance and the fight against homophobia, the world of sports is still being dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century.
