The Marist Red Foxes found themselves in an unusual spot this weekend: the headlines.
On Friday night, Marist donned black socks with rainbow trim to show solidarity with the LGBT community. The team brought about 20 students to the game wearing shirts that said “Love is Love” on the front and “I stand on the right side of history” on the back. Specifically, the team and fans wore the socks and shirts in response to North Carolina’s House Bill 2, a law which imposes the restriction that people in North Carolina must use the bathrooms corresponding to their assigned birth gender.
According to Marist coach Mike Maker, “Marist and Duke share similar missions when it comes to inclusiveness and diversity and the respect they have for all that. We met a lot with our players, and most of them decided that it’d be a good idea to show support in regards to that issue, and I’m very proud of how they handled themselves.”
Maker also made it clear that his team and their fans made their protest with the full support of the university. Yet, why make the protest now?
As reported by ESPN, “Duke was initially scheduled to play Albany in the season opener as part of the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament. Albany was forced to back out of the deal in July after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order that banned all state-sponsored, non-essential travel to the state of North Carolina. Cuomo’s order was in response to North Carolina passing House Bill 2 into law in March.”
Marist, a private school, finds itself outside the scope of Cuomo’s executive order.
In addition to losing their minds, Marist lost the basketball game 94-49.
Follow Dylan Gwinn on Twitter: @themightygwinn
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