Flyers’ Scott Laughton is a LGBTQ+ advocate in an effort to make hockey more ‘welcome and inclusive’

Pride.

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, it has a multitude of meanings. With the calendar now in June and Pride Month being celebrated around the city and country, two definitions reverberate: Respect and appreciation for oneself and others as members of a group, and especially a marginalized group; and an event or series of events celebrating and affirming the rights, equality, and culture of LGBTQ people.

For Flyers alternate captain Scott Laughton, pride is not neatly wrapped up in a 30-day month every year. He is an ally every day of the year and has used his platform as a professional hockey player to make the sport inclusive for everyone since he first donned a Flyers jersey.

“[The LGBTQ+ community] is pretty close to me and just having that education of it, growing up and seeing what people go through, I definitely want to help out,” Laughton told The Inquirer. “It’s really about making people feel included and welcome and that’s my goal at the end of the day — to grow the game and to have new fans around and to have new players that want to play and feel like they should be playing. So that’s been very special to me.”

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Drafted by the Flyers in 2012, the Ontario native has been an ambassador for the You Can Play Project for years. The organization “works to ensure the safety and inclusion for all who participate in sports, including LGBTQ+ athletes, coaches, and fans.” He is involved with the Canada-based Alphabet Sports Collective, launched in 2023, and created to build “a safe and inclusive environment in hockey for folks of all sexual identities and gender expressions through education, community building, and mobilization.” Former Lehigh Valley forward Kurtis Gabriel is a board of director, along with hockey agent Bayne Pettinger, who came out in 2020 and whom Laughton knows from their days with Hockey Canada.

During the 2022-23 season, Laughton and then-Flyers forward James van Riemsdyk met with more than 60 members of the LGBTQ+ community, including the Philadelphia’s Gay Officer Action League (GOAL), a nonprofit organization whose mission is to advocate for and on behalf of LGBTQ+ first responders and military members, educate first responders in LGBTQ+ cultural humility, and provide community outreach to advance relations between the LGBTQ+ public and first responder agencies.

Since 2021, Laughton regularly hosts members of the LGBTQ+ community at games through his Flyers Pride Initiative, established to create a memorable hockey experience and to make every attendee feel welcome and included in the Flyers family. In January, he invited previous guests from the last three seasons — more than 50 people attended — to Pride Night and met with them after the game. Whenever he has guests at the Wells Fargo Center, Laughton will buy T-shirts, bring signed pictures, and pose for pictures.

But he also takes the time to chat and, more importantly, listen.

“I think just hearing the individual stories and hearing about the different experiences that people go through. You meet so many good people,” said Laughton, adding that it’s just 5-10 minutes of his day but it goes a long way.

“The one thing that probably sticks out to me the most is, for most it’s their first game, coming to a Flyers game. And how many times they say they’re going to come back and how much they enjoyed it. That’s kind of what it’s all about, growing the game and building new fans and if you can do that, then I think I’m doing my job.”

It’s fitting Laughton was the Flyers’ nominee for the King Clancy Memorial Trophy. The award is given annually “to the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community.”

Yep, that is Laughton to a T.

For most of this past season, he was the only guy wearing a letter on his jersey. That “A,” stitched into the upper left corner speaks volumes to who Laughton is inside the Flyers locker room. When he speaks, everyone listens. During the season he revealed he had conversations and answered questions, one-on-one and in group settings, regarding LGBTQ+ equality.

“Language, it hurts. You might think it’s small and something that doesn’t hurt, but it does. That’s a huge thing for us in Philly, the language you use and just the education and learning about different people’s backgrounds, where you come from,” he said.

“It’s not just the LGBTQ, but if you’re a different skin color or anything like that, I think you’re more than welcome here. So I think in Philly it’s come a long way. There are still strides to make but it’s definitely come a long way and I’m pretty proud of that here.”

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Hockey has come a long way. But during the 2022-23 season, it was tested when then-Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov missed warmups on Pride Night because the team was wearing theme night jerseys, citing religious beliefs for his decision. Other players followed suit, including Flyers defenseman Marc Staal who was with the Florida Panthers at the time. The NHL banned all themed jerseys from being worn in official warmups at the beginning of this past season. The NHL also initially said it would ban Pride Tape before relenting. Laughton said in September he would still use the tape and “if they want to say something, they can.”

Laughton was, and is, not mad at Provorov. He said the blueliner had a right to believe in what he believed in. But he also sees the value in Pride Nights because they create a place to educate and have conversations, something he said the pair did throughout the year. Before this year’s annual Pride game, he spoke to the team about his support of the LGBTQ+ community and recruited teammates to join him in making individuals feel seen and welcome.

The day before Pride Night, Laughton, Joel Farabee, and Cam Atkinson visited the Mazzoni Center, an LGBTQ+ health and wellness center in Center City. Flyers Charities made a $25,000 donation in support of its cancer program, while Laughton and Flyers governor Dan Hilferty each added $5,000 more. Laughton said it was another educational opportunity and an eye-opening moment.

Laughton’s work is a continuation of what he learned from guys like van Riemsdyk, Jake Voracek, Brandon Manning, Wayne Simmonds, Claude Giroux, and the late Flyers owner Ed Snider. Although his name keeps popping up in trade rumors, the just-turned-30-year-old veteran, who has never worn anything but orange and black in the NHL, plans on being involved in the Philly community for years to come like the current members of the Flyers alumni.

Across 601 career games, Laughton has 238 points (95 goals, 143 points) and countless memories. As he said, while he’ll be remembered for some things he did on the ice, “I think off the ice is what I would like to be remembered the most and just be a good human being.”

Laughton has never been afraid to show his “True Colors” and has made it clear, he will always be there for the LGBTQ+ community.

“It kind of goes back to that education and kind of standing up for what you think is right,” Laughton said when asked what it means to him to be an ally.

“You can receive a lot of hate from Twitter trolls and all these people that don’t have that education. But it’s standing up for what you believe in and what you think is right and that’s being inclusive and making sure people feel like they’re treated the same way as if you were straight or anything like that. So I think that’s the biggest thing is standing up for what you believe in and then just kind of sticking your ground.”