{"id":1569,"date":"2022-03-24T08:24:38","date_gmt":"2022-03-24T08:24:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/linksus.net\/orlando-pride-soccer-team-apologizes-for-not-allowing-gay-banner-at-match-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2022-03-24T08:24:38","modified_gmt":"2022-03-24T08:24:38","slug":"orlando-pride-soccer-team-apologizes-for-not-allowing-gay-banner-at-match-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/2022\/03\/24\/orlando-pride-soccer-team-apologizes-for-not-allowing-gay-banner-at-match-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Orlando Pride soccer team apologizes for not allowing &#039;Gay&#039; banner at match &#8211; NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Profile<br \/>Sections<br \/>tv<br \/>Featured<br \/>More From NBC<br \/>Follow NBC News<br \/>The Orlando Pride has apologized after a supporters\u2019 group was told it could not display a banner that said \u201cGay\u201d at a match this weekend.<br \/>The Black Swans\u2019 banner was in reference to Florida\u2019s recent legislation dubbed by critics as the \u201cDon\u2019t Say Gay\u2033 bill.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BlackSwansDC\/status\/1505317429727145987\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The supporters\u2019 group went to Twitter,<\/a>\u00a0claiming the sign was deemed political and removed.<br \/>In the fallout, the front office for the National Women\u2019s Soccer League team said it would meet with the group to find out what happened.<br \/>\u201cThese conversations resulted in one ultimate and important conclusion: a mistake was made when the club asked the Black Swans to remove the banner that said \u2018GAY,\u2019\u201d the team\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ORLPride\/status\/1506356688609234946\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said Tuesday in a statement<\/a>.<br \/>The Pride\u2019s statement said it wrongly focused on policies and procedures surrounding signs and banners, rather than the meaning of the message. The team was playing the opening match of the NWSL\u2019s preseason Challenge Cup against the Washington Spirit on Saturday.<br \/>The Pride has long championed LGBTQ rights, and there are 49 rainbow-colored seats at their home stadium to honor those killed in the Pulse nightclub shooting in 2016.<br \/>Late last month the Pride and Major League Soccer\u2019s Orlando City\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ORLPride\/status\/1498304764848844808\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">issued a statement<\/a>\u00a0condemning the legislation, which is awaiting Gov. Ron DeSantis\u2019 signature.<br \/>\u201cOur city is no stranger to the dangers that come from hateful rhetoric and intolerance. We oppose the Florida legislation which promotes ostracization and discrimination of LGBTQ+ students in our schools and their families,\u201d the statement said.<br \/>As a result, supporters were especially dismayed by the club\u2019s decision not to allow the banner. The team said it is committed to communication with the fans going forward.<br \/>\u201cIt is a privilege and duty to create a safe, inclusive environment at Orlando Pride matches, and the club deeply apologizes for violating that trust through this incorrect decision. Moving forward, the Black Swans have approval to hang the banner at Pride home matches if they wish to do so,\u201d the team said.<br \/><strong><em>Follow\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/nbc-out\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong><em>NBC Out<\/em><\/strong><\/a><strong><em>\u00a0on\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NBCOUT\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong><em>Twitter<\/em><\/strong><\/a><strong><em>,\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NBCOUT\/?fref=ts\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong><em>Facebook<\/em><\/strong><\/a><strong><em>\u00a0&#038;\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/nbcout\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong><em>Instagram<\/em><\/strong><\/a>. <br \/>&copy;&nbsp;2022 NBC UNIVERSAL<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/nbc-out\/out-news\/orlando-pride-soccer-team-apologizes-not-allowing-gay-banner-match-rcna21167\">source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ProfileSectionstvFeaturedMore From NBCFollow NBC NewsThe Orlando Pride has apologized after a supporters\u2019 group was told it could not display a banner that said \u201cGay\u201d at a match this weekend.The Black Swans\u2019 banner was in reference to Florida\u2019s recent legislation dubbed by critics as the \u201cDon\u2019t Say Gay\u2033 bill.\u00a0The supporters\u2019 group went to Twitter,\u00a0claiming the sign [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":869,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1569"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/869"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1569"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1569\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}