Prokop reflects on year sce g out as gay |

Contents:

• FORMER PRO HOCKEY PLAYER JANNE PUHAKKA IS THE FIRST FLAND TO E OUT AS GAY
• FAMEWATCHER SEARCH PRIMARY MENU SKIP TO NTENT HOMECELEBRY HAIR TRANSPLANTCELEBRY PLASTIC SURGERYCELEBRY LEATHER JACKETBODY SHAPER SEARCH FOR: HOT HOCKEY PLAYERSGAY HOCKEY PLAYERS LIST: COLLEGE AND PRO ATHLET
• 'WE MT SPEAK UP': FNISH HOCKEY PLAYER OUT AS GAY
• FLAND'S PRO HOCKEY LEAGUE WANTS GAY PLAYERS TO STAY CLOSET
• FNISH HOCKEY PLAYER OUT AS GAY AHEAD OF LANDMARK CLIVE PRI-THEMED SHOWDOWN
• PROKOP REFLECTS ON YEAR SCE G OUT AS GAY
• GAY MALE HOCKEY PLAYERS ARE G OUT DROV, AND CHANGG THE SPORT’S CULTURE
• LE PROKOP COM OUT AS GAY AND MAK NHL HISTORY
• FNISH HOCKEY PLAYER JANNE PUHAKKA OUT AS GAY AHEAD OF PRI-THEMED MATCH
• FNISH HOCKEY PLAYER OUT AS GAY AHEAD OF LANDMARK CLIVE PRI-THEMED SHOWDOWN
• AN N.H.L. PROSPECT IS THE FIRST SUCH PLAYER TO ANNOUNCE HE’S GAY

FORMER PRO HOCKEY PLAYER JANNE PUHAKKA IS THE FIRST FLAND TO E OUT AS GAY

Janne Puhakka, a former forward for the Fnish pro hockey teams Espoo Blue and Espoo Uned, me out as gay an terview this week. ”He’s the first ice hockey player the Fnish Champnship League to dare to publicly claim to be homosexual, ” the Fnish newspaper Helsg Sanomat reported.

After a succsful first year playg the Fnish pro league at age 20, he said he began to feel bothered by the fact that he didn’t feel able to hontly mentn his beg gay, pecially as his teammat spoke openly about their wiv and girliends. He would ocsnally lgh off anti-gay “jok” told the locker room or on the players’ bench, he said an terview. While he shared that he was gay wh his team’s pta of that time, Kim Hirschovs, and a few close teammat, he mostly kept his then-boyiend a secret, avoid qutns about his love life and worried that his other teammat might one day n to him and his boyiend the cy.

And yet Puhakka felt prsure to rema closeted part bee of what was said Febary 2014 by Suhe Wallheimo — a Fnish member of parliament and former pro ice hockey goalkeeper, who served as chairman of Fland’s hockey players’ associatn: “It’d be a good ia for a gay player to hi his homo the booth so as not to offend team chemistry and turn [sentiments] agast the team. Also 2014, former Fnish pro hockey team pta Juhani Tammen said he’d never knowgly had a gay teammate, dismissively addg that “ltle mice” wouldn’t do well the sport, though he also claimed gay players were certaly wele to participate. Dpe his public g out, he knows of no other gay players Fland’s other pro teams.

FAMEWATCHER SEARCH PRIMARY MENU SKIP TO NTENT HOMECELEBRY HAIR TRANSPLANTCELEBRY PLASTIC SURGERYCELEBRY LEATHER JACKETBODY SHAPER SEARCH FOR: HOT HOCKEY PLAYERSGAY HOCKEY PLAYERS LIST: COLLEGE AND PRO ATHLET

There have been some very clive ments durg the past few years yet there are no openly gay players. And some gay players have been givg ments to media on the ndn of total anonymy. Gay Hockey Players List: College and Pro Athlet.

Unlike other sports such as gby and Amerin football, the world of hockey still has to see a gay profsnal hockey player e out of the closet.

This, of urse, do not mean that there aren’t any gay hockey, we ma a list hockey players who are out of the closet.

'WE MT SPEAK UP': FNISH HOCKEY PLAYER OUT AS GAY

Granted they’re jt a handful but we won’t be surprised if more gay hockey players – spired by the pneers – will e out the Lee Olsen.

Apparently, he planned to e out when he was playg profsnally but the anti-gay jok he heard the locker room and worri about his job secury as a hockey player prompted him not ’s what he says about his g out: “It would be ial if I didn’t have to talk about this. We are wh you the hope that your story will enurage other gay hockey players to be themselv whether or outsi the game.

FLAND'S PRO HOCKEY LEAGUE WANTS GAY PLAYERS TO STAY CLOSET

Cotsonika as “the clost person to the NHL ever to e out publicly and say that he is gay” g out 2009 created que a stir the hockey world as his father, Brian Burke, is the general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs and of the US Olympic hockey team.

His fay ntu to work to end homophobia hockey. Brendan, on the left, wh kid brother Patrick Burke who now heads the NHL Department of Player Safety and -founr of the You Can Play Project which seeks to elimate “homophobic culture found some rners of hockey” McGillis, who once played for the Ontar Hockey League, me out as gay a November 2016 article on Yahoo Sports.

Photo of Brock urty of >> Related Post: Shirtls Hockey PlayersHere’s what Brock wrote his Yahoo g-out article: “I was gay, but uldn’t share my secret wh anyone. By the time I realized I was gay had bee my lone sanctuary; allowed me to pe my thoughts and fears. ”Peter Karlsson, who played fence for the Swedish hockey club VIK Västerås HK om was reported to be the victim of a gay hate crime.

FNISH HOCKEY PLAYER OUT AS GAY AHEAD OF LANDMARK CLIVE PRI-THEMED SHOWDOWN

”Over the last uple of years, Atralia's ice hockey muny has been productive tacklg homophobia the sport - and Maxime Langelier-Parent, the Melbourne Mtangs Head Coach, said that their team had a "rponsibily to promote valu that we believe will ntribute to makg this world a better place for all humans. Fland's top pro hockey league has a msage for gay players: Stay the closet. Last week, the official blog for Liiga ran a blog post by eelance journalist Ari-Pekka Kaipiaen who blamed the media for askg when a gay player will e out.

Kaipiaen has worked for a nservative Christian rad statn and the article strongly hts that he supports reparative therapy, said Ossi Halme, a longtime journalist who has wrten for the gay news se The lumn clud Kaipiaen offerg "help for those whom are stgglg wh their sexual orientatn. " The article's msage, Halme told Outsports, was that gay players should keep their sexual orientatn to themselv and also directly refers to beg gay as only beg a sexual act. The Promise for Equaly Sports, known by s acronym TAULU, says that there is no room for homophobia sports and that all athlet are valuable no matter their sexual orientatn.

The media have only wanted to talk about this issue, which was taboo until 12 months ago, after I wrote the first-ever terview of a Fnish profsnal male athlete, who is straight, on gay issu. "Ice hockey is Fland's top sport but Halme said s grip is looseng bee the league is seen as old-fashned s thkg, as evinced by nng the anti-gay post. Earlier this month, the Fnish public broadstg rporatn YLE asked the league's 14 team ptas about gay rights.

PROKOP REFLECTS ON YEAR SCE G OUT AS GAY

Of the 12 who answered, ne said they believed that there are gay and bisexual players their teams. Two curly said that there were no gays bee they would have heard of any who were.

GAY MALE HOCKEY PLAYERS ARE G OUT DROV, AND CHANGG THE SPORT’S CULTURE

Eight of the ptas also support gay marriage. Fland is the only Sndavian untry where gays n’t marry, but the parliament will vote on such a law before electns March.

LE PROKOP COM OUT AS GAY AND MAK NHL HISTORY

Dpe beg a Fn, Halme adms that Nordic rival Swen is far ahead of his untry on supportg gays sports. We often fet that the stggle for gay equaly sports is worldwi and 's important to she the light on issu wherever they crop up. Former Fnish ele-level ice-hockey player Janne Puhakka me out as gay jt days before two of the untry’s top teams played a Pri-themed hockey match.

Puhakka me out as gay an terview last week wh Helsg Sanomat bee he believ that LGBT+ issu are still taboo hockey.

FNISH HOCKEY PLAYER JANNE PUHAKKA OUT AS GAY AHEAD OF PRI-THEMED MATCH

Jt days after Puhakka me out as gay, ele ice-hockey teams Ilv and TPS faced off agast each other a Pri-themed match to promote LGBT+ acceptance sport. Former Fnish ice-hockey player Janne Puhakka wants to break stigma by g out as gay.

The 24-year-old Puhakka said would be “ial” if he didn’t have to talk publicly about beg gay – but said that stigma n only be broken by open dialogue. He is the first ice-hockey player the untry to e out as gay.

He started playg hockey when he was jt six years old and gaed a place on the natnal youth team when he was 16, at which pot he started to realise that he was gay. Puhakka ed to lgh off homophobic jok the locker room. When Pakka was 20-years-old, he beme bothered that he was unable to be openly gay wh his teammat.

FNISH HOCKEY PLAYER OUT AS GAY AHEAD OF LANDMARK CLIVE PRI-THEMED SHOWDOWN

He also revealed that he ed to lgh off homophobic jok told locker rooms and on the players’ bench. The hockey player also revealed that he was phed even further to the closet by Fnish member of parliament Suhe Wallheimo, who said 2014: “It’d be a good ia for a gay player to hi his homo the booth so as not to offend team chemistry and turn [sentiments] agast the team, ” Outsports reports.

Consirg that May 17 is the Internatnal Day Agast Homophobia, Trans-phobia and Bi-phobia, I thought would be a good time to talk about the recent, rather prsg velopments Fland: the rponse to a song about gay people ice hockey. He really beme known 2016, when he publicly me out as gay on a vio, which also led to him beg chosen as "Gay person of the year", a LGBT award show that has sce been disntued. Well, as you n probably gus om the tle of this post, seems to be bee of the fact that tells about gay hockey players.

AN N.H.L. PROSPECT IS THE FIRST SUCH PLAYER TO ANNOUNCE HE’S GAY

There's jt the fact that he's gay and happens to be to Boeli' character the vio. I mean, a song about gay hockey players ed ntroversy, enough to be noticed outsi the untry. So, even if there aren't any openly gay people currently playg the hight levels, 's a matter of time when that will change.

The play-by-play broadster for Uti, the New Jersey Devils' Amerin Hockey League affiliate, publicly me out as gay October 2021, fluenced by Prokop's cisn. "I want to be the first openly gay player to play the NHL, " he said. A slew of players me out, and wh each announcement, showed gay people belong on the ice.

Gay former hockey player Brock McGillis spoke to Outsports multiple tim this year about the prevalence of homophobia locker rooms. Durg the quiet of the sprgtime sports shutdowns, two well-known NHL players, Stanley Cup champn Dt Penner and wger Brendan Leipsic, were ught postg horribly homophobic and misogynistic msag on social media. When I go speak, I humanize beg a gay man and playg hockey at high levels.