Fans are showing an outpouring of support for Ivan Provorov, the Philadelphia Flyers defensemen who has been under a barrage of media attacks after he abstained from wearing a Pride Night themed warmup jersey due to his religious beIiefs earlier this week.
After news came out that he did not participate in wearing the LGBTQ+ rainbow themed attire, the press immediately swarmed him post-game to obtain the reasons as to why.
I respect everyone, said Provorov, I respect everybody’s choices. My choice is to stay to true to myseIf and my religion.
Ivan Provorov is a Christian and member of the Russian Orthodox Church, which holds a traditional stance on the topics of gender and sexuaIity.
The story continued to gain traction when head coach John Tortorella later defended Provorov’s choice to stand by his faith.
High School Teacher Put on Leave After Terrifying Students With ‘Hail Satan’ Stunt
Mesa Public Schools said it is looking into the incident.
On Tuesday, the teacher told 12News they dressed up that way for Halloween spirit week. The teacher explained that the theme was “dynamic duos” and that a teacher next door dressed as an angel.
“Participating in spirit weeks is a way for me to connect with my students and make class fun,” the teacher said. “It’s honestly nothing more than that.”
However, Hamlet said he felt insulted by the costume due to his religious beliefs.
“I said, ‘Don’t do that to me,’ and I pushed [the pitchfork] away maybe three or four times, but he kept doing it,” Hamlet said.
Nathaniel then told his father, Chris Hamlet, a former Mesa school board candidate, about what happened. Chris said he reported it to the school’s principal.
“I was really upset because I’m a Christian too,” Chris Hamlet said. “The main issue for me is, the teacher kept doing it even when my son asked him to stop.”
The next day, Nathaniel said the teacher was not in class and hasn’t returned since. Mesa Public Schools said the teacher is now on paid administrative leave.
A spokesperson for Mesa Public Schools gave 12News a statement on the incident:
“Mesa Public Schools administration was notified of the alleged incident late Wednesday afternoon. Our Human Resources department started investigating Thursday morning and put the teacher on paid leave. The investigation is still ongoing.”
Some parents picking up their kids from school on Monday told 12News that while they don’t agree with what the teacher did, they feel that firing him might be too extreme.
Leave a Reply