New development in teams declining LGBT themed warmups

There certainly was plenty of chatter both for and against the decision of Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov earlier this year in January of declining to participate in his team's warmup skate due to the fact that they were wearing LGBT rainbow-themed jerseys; the Russian defenseman said that doing so would be a violation of his religious beliefs. 

There have been two NHL teams who have since scrapped their plans to wear pride themed jerseys during warmup since then in the New York Rangers and Minnesota Wild. The thought was that there were potentially several players who privately voiced their opposition to do so in a similar vein as Provorov.

However, another update has been released, and it makes sense given the fact that Provorov is Russian, while the Wild and Rangers have high profile Russian players. According to The Athletic, Russian players face potential arrest or worse in their native country for supporting "nontraditional" sexual relations:

"In particular, this issue has arisen for teams with prominent Russian players since that country’s anti-gay laws were amended in early December, per the New York Times, to make it “illegal to spread ‘propaganda’ about ‘nontraditional sexual relations’ in all media, including social, advertising and movies.”

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Still, according to scholars on the topic, the threat Russian players in particular are facing because of the escalation of anti-gay laws is real.

Ben Noble, associate professor of Russian politics at University College London, agreed.

“These are legitimate fears,” Noble said. “‘If you put on a Pride jersey, then there is uncertainty regarding how this would be interpreted by law enforcement in Russia — and that’s a risk. The authorities have the power to enforce this and other legislation selectively. It’s up to them to decide whom they go after.

“Could it be that certain Russian players are using this legislation as an excuse not to do things that conflict with their own personal values — that they may simply not want to put on a Pride jersey? Perhaps. But I don’t think legitimate fears regarding the impact of the ‘LGBT propaganda’ legislation should be disregarded.”

The Wild have Russian born forward Kirill Kaprizov, while the Rangers boast several top Russian talents in Artemi Panarin, Igor Shesterkin, and Vladimir Tarasenko.