Le Prokop, NHL prospect, out as gay - Outsports

Contents:

• ALBERTA HOCKEY MUNY APPLDS AFTER NHL PROSPECT LE PROKOP OUT AS GAY
• GAY RECREATNAL HOCKEY TEAM BREAKS NEW GROUND CALGARY
• NASHVILLE PREDATORS PROSPECT LE PROKOP OUT AS GAY

ALBERTA HOCKEY MUNY APPLDS AFTER NHL PROSPECT LE PROKOP OUT AS GAY

Natnal Hockey League prospect Le Prokop me out as gay via a heartfelt statement to fans Monday, sayg he hoped would improve gay visibily wh the hockey muny. “I hope that sharg who I am I n help other people see that gay people are wele the hockey muny, as we work to make sure that hockey is tly for everyone, ” he wrote.

Prokop hasn’t played an NHL game yet, but if he do, he’ll jo que a small club: There have only been two openly gay active players the four largt US sports leagu – Carl Nassib of the NFL’s Las Vegas Rairs, who me out last month, and Jason Colls, an NBA veteran who me out 2013 and retired the followg season. Homophobic language is often ed among ach and players on youth sports teams.

This n evolve to lastg homophobic attus or e gay players to hi their sexualy om their teammat, said Erik Denison, a behavral scientist and lead rearcher on the Sport Incln Project at Monash Universy Atralia, a June terview wh CNN. CalgaryCalgary Hmen fenceman and NHL prospect Le Prokop is gettg a round of applse om the hockey muny after g out as gay on advote says there is still work to be done to make the sport more cliveCalgary Hmen fenceman Le Prokop has announced he's gay, after g out via social media on Monday.

GAY RECREATNAL HOCKEY TEAM BREAKS NEW GROUND CALGARY

(Derek Lng/Getty Imag)Calgary Hmen fenceman and NHL prospect Le Prokop is gettg a round of applse after g out as gay on Monday, but advot are also llg for a change wh hockey is the first active player unr an NHL ntract to ever e 19-year-old has spent the past four seasons wh the Calgary Hmen of the Wtern Hockey League after growg up Edmonton, and has sce been drafted by the Nashville Predators the 2020 NHL Entry postg his announcement to Twter, Prokop has received a public thank you om the Natnal Hockey League, among a variety of teams.

"Changg hockey cultureWhile both gay male and female athlet have wrtled wh difficult cisns over the years, men's profsnal sports leagu have generally been void of active, open gay Natnal Hockey League and Major League Baseball had yet to see active players who were able to be open about their McGillis, a former profsnal hockey player and now advote for the LGBTQ muny says he helped ach Prokop as he prepared to e prospect Le Prokop announc he's gayChangg the culture of hockey"I wanted him to be prepared for the whirlwd … some of the [msag] are gog to be good, some are gog to be bad and some are gog to be om people who are stgglg, " he told CBC Calgary News at 6.

"I'm grateful to the opportuni I was given jt beg a gay man hockey and the opportuni I have had to actively work to shift the culture and make a safer space, " he advote says he's proud for Prokop for g out but that there needs to be more of a ph to make sports safe for those the queer McGillis, former profsnal hockey player and LGBTQ advote, hid his sexual orientatn durg his hockey reer.

NASHVILLE PREDATORS PROSPECT LE PROKOP OUT AS GAY

(Submted by Brock McGillis)"There is homophobic language every locker room. Here, the Pneers are morn-day trailblazers – the first openly gay men's hockey team Alberta.

"Read more: Calgary Flam' Brian Burke on Gay Pri and sexualy  sportsRead more: Inclive PriHoe Toronto paviln the first of s kd at a Pan Am GamJohn Doyle: Olympic diver Greg Louganis rells srn of beg differentQuietly, whout any real fanfare, the Pneers and the WHCL have got together and done somethg meangful. They've taken a select group of gay hockey players and placed them a men's league a provce where beg rough around the edg is nsired a pliment.