Phantoms to Host Second Annual “You Can Play! Pride Night” on February 14, 2020

Kurtis Gabriel to Serve As Lehigh Valley Player Ambassador

December 11, 2019

Lehigh Valley, Pa – The Lehigh Valley Phantoms and Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center are proud to announce that they will continue their partnership with the You Can Play Project to host the second annual Pride Night on Friday, February 14, 2020 when the team takes on the Bridgeport Sound Tigers at PPL Center. The You Can Play project is dedicated to ensuring equality, respect, and safety for all who participate in sports, including LGBT athletes, coaches, and fans. Their mission is to create a culture change where locker rooms and spectator areas focus on athletic ability, work ethic, and team spirit, not sexual orientation and/or gender identity.

In honor of the evening’s cause, a number of players will use rainbow colored Pride tape on their sticks and members of the Ice Crew will wrap their shovels with Pride tape.

Phantoms forward, Kurtis Gabriel will serve as the player ambassador for a cause he is very passionate about. Gabriel was the first player to use rainbow colored Pride tape on his stick during an NHL game, and is the only player to use the tape on his stick year round as a continuous message of support for the LGBTQ community.

“Well I would hope you’d pick me,” Gabriel said with a laugh. “I love doing this kind of stuff. I’ve got the tape on my stick still. I’ve had a lot of people reach out and say it’s been helping here since I’ve come to the Phantoms so I love to lead the charge for that. I just want to help as many people as I can. The more it’s out there, the more people that are seeing it, the more people that are feeling included in the game of hockey.”

As part of the You Can Play initiative, the Phantoms will be highlighting the Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center in Allentown. This event will present a great platform to support the Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center and promote inclusion and diversity across the entire Lehigh Valley.

“We are proud to partner with the Phantoms to make it clear that hockey is for everyone, and that LGBT people are included. We encourage our community to join us at Pride Night with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms!” said Adrian Shanker, Executive Director, Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center.

Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center is offering a special $30.00 package for the night that includes a game ticket and a Phantoms Pride T-Shirt, and most importantly a portion of each of these ticket packages will benefit programs at Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center. This package can only be purchased by visiting THIS PAGE.

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