How Montreal Victoire's Erin Ambrose is using fashion to stand up for the 2SLGBTQ+ community

Karissa Donkin · CBC Sports

· Posted: Jun 21, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 4 minutes ago

In a photograph shoot, Montreal Victoire defender Erin Ambrose sports a bucket chapeau and a grey t-shirt that shows a fist successful the air, covered successful a hockey mitt and draped successful a rainbow flag.

"Be you," is written connected the glove.

It's an eye-catching shirt, and successful her 2nd twelvemonth of creating her ain Pride apparel enactment with CCM Hockey, it's the defender's favourite plan truthful far.

"I conscionable deliberation it's a precise almighty thing," Ambrose said successful an interrogation with CBC Sports. "You deliberation of conscionable the awesome of a fist up successful the aerial and what that does basal for."

For Ambrose, it's not conscionable a manner statement. The hockey-gloved fist successful the aerial is simply a motion of protest, an enactment of lasting up for a assemblage that's progressively been nether onslaught implicit the past mates of years.

It's the boldest point that's been released arsenic portion of Ambrose's collaboration with CCM Hockey truthful far, and 1 that Ambrose is arrogant to wear.

"It's truthful important due to the fact that arsenic invited arsenic I consciousness successful the community, arsenic accepted arsenic I consciousness successful my day-to-day life, I cognize that I americium inactive a number successful saying that," Ambrose said.

For Ambrose, it's besides a mode of merging 2 parts of her.

There's Ambrose the hockey player, an Olympic golden medallist and 2024 Defender of the Year successful the PWHL. You're astir apt utilized to seeing her successful Team Canada colours oregon a Victoire jersey.

But there's besides Ambrose the person, an openly cheery pistillate who wears her bosom connected her sleeve, and is ever reasoning of ways she tin marque the 2SLGBTQ+ assemblage safer for everyone.

The shirts, hats and sweat suit that are portion of her covering enactment bespeak that portion of Ambrose — idiosyncratic who's grown successful what she wears and however she feels comfy representing herself.

Making a statement

"As I've gotten older, I besides americium getting much comfy wearing the rainbow around," the 31-year-old from Keswick, Ont. said.

"There are inactive places I mightiness deliberation doubly astir it and I privation that wasn't the case. But astatine the aforesaid time, I person no problem walking my canine with the [Pride] graphic T-shirt on."

The hints of rainbow are subtle successful immoderate of the designs, ranging from the boldness of the gloved fist to agleam colours highlighted successful the CCM logo.

WATCH | Ambrose connected the value of embracing Pride successful the PWHL:

But it whitethorn really beryllium the rainbow CCM logo, 1 that's historically been associated with men playing sports, that says the most.

"I deliberation it really makes the biggest connection due to the fact that CCM allowed for their logo to beryllium enactment successful rainbow, and we're talking astir a hockey institution that has been astir for implicit 100 years," Ambrose said. "That doesn't usually happen."

Ambrose was approached to make the enactment by Dale Williams, CCM Hockey's planetary sports selling manager.

Year 1 was astir creating the basics, but Year 2 of the enactment takes it a measurement further.

"With the 2025 Erin Ambrose 23 collection, we wanted to bring hockey into a abstraction wherever it hasn't traditionally had a beardown presence," said Marrouane Nabih, CCM Hockey's CEO. "It goes beyond the rink, showcasing authenticity, benignant and a consciousness of belonging."

A life-changing instrumentality interaction

The league launched astatine a clip erstwhile the NHL moved distant from wearing customized jerseys for Pride and different causes, and for a little time, barred players from utilizing Pride portion successful warmups.

But the PWHL is different. A important fig of players successful the league are portion of the 2SLGBTQ+ community. Some, similar Ambrose, Boston Fleet guardant Jamie Lee Rattray and Ottawa Charge guardant Emily Clark, person utilized their platforms to advocator for the assemblage they are portion of.

It's created a antithetic ambiance astatine PWHL games. Last year, a instrumentality drove from New York to Montreal for that team's Pride game.

They dressed successful a afloat rainbow onesie, which caught Ambrose's eye. She gave them a puck and tracked them down aft the crippled to springiness them a stick, too.

That instrumentality aboriginal wrote Ambrose a missive to accidental however overmuch that nighttime changed their life.

"It was specified a small moment, but I was like, no, this is really mode bigger than conscionable 1 instrumentality making the thrust due to the fact that I cognize they're not the lone idiosyncratic that would consciousness much comfy coming to a PWHL crippled than an NHL game," she said.

When a teenaged Ambrose was rising done the hockey ranks and struggling with her ain sexuality, she couldn't person imagined her favourite subordinate wearing Pride gear.

As she progressed successful hockey, she's been astir much teammates who are retired and open. She thinks astir however overmuch of a quality that mightiness person made for players years ago.

She can't spell backmost successful time, but she knows she has an quality and a level present to assistance different radical consciousness much comfy oregon adjacent conscionable make much understanding.

"I'm arrogant to beryllium gay," she said. "I'm arrogant to beryllium a portion of this community."