Bayne Pettger, NHL's first openly gay hockey player agent, says the league's recent cisn to ban teams om donng Pri jerseys uld alienate the queer muny and disurage their participatn and support the game.
Contents:
- TORONTO GAY HOCKEY ASSOCIATN
- CALLG PRI JERSEYS A DISTRACTN IS SENDG THE WRONG MSAGE, SAYS NHL'S FIRST OPENLY-GAY AGENT
- GOLD-WNG CANADIAN WOMEN'S HOCKEY TEAM SR A VICTORY FOR GAY ATHLET
TORONTO GAY HOCKEY ASSOCIATN
Collectively, the Toronto and Montreal Gay Hockey Associatns host a unique LGBTQ+ and ally-iendly ice hockey tournament, Coupe Canada Cup (prevly lled the Eastern Canada Cup), which rotat annually between the two tuned for 2023 tournament tails! Open this photo gallery:From left to right, Matthew Dalimonte, Aaron Dphee, Jeff O'Dell, Jordi Díez, and Jamie Smythe are pictured at the Mattamy Athletic Centre Toronto at a prev Toronto Gay Hockey Associatn event September.
CALLG PRI JERSEYS A DISTRACTN IS SENDG THE WRONG MSAGE, SAYS NHL'S FIRST OPENLY-GAY AGENT
”In the late 1980s, members of the gay muny Toronto who felt unwele or even at risk playg hockey mastream amatr leagu – all that toxic masculy and so-lled “locker room talk” – set out to build alternativ. Begng wh outdoor pickup gam advertised the gay muny newspaper Xtra, they slowly amassed a rps of like-md players who jt wanted an environment ee of 1993, they ved a team om a burgeong gay hockey league Montreal to e to Toronto for a iendly match on Thanksgivg weekend. “There were people who weren’t wele back home wh their fai, bee they were gay, ” said Matt Hicks, the tournaments director for the Toronto Gay Hockey Associatn, which grew out of those early efforts.
”As the gay hockey scene both ci expand, the match beme a full-blown tournament that alternated each year between Toronto and Montreal, sometim drawg teams om around the world. “We didn’t really want to start a league that was jt gay-only, ” said Robert Thompson, a -founr of the TGHA, who still plays the league. ’”Open this photo gallery:Officials at a September event om the Toronto Gay Hockey Associatn.
GOLD-WNG CANADIAN WOMEN'S HOCKEY TEAM SR A VICTORY FOR GAY ATHLET
” But once he left, and began to build a gay-iendly space that still volved the sport that he loved, “ saved my life, basilly. And while homophobic slurs ed to be a fact of life on the ice and off, anizers nowadays will quickly act on cints that are brought to their attentn.
“That never would have happened 35 years ago, ” he fact, thgs seemed to be gettg so much better, pecially among younger players who are growg up an environment that is broadly more acceptg than the one he experienced as a young gay man, about 10 years ago Thompson began to worry the TGHA was agg out. “I have one player on my team who said that he stopped playg bee of the homophobic slurs when he was growg up.