Gay hockey players are changg the sport’s atavistic culture - Outsports

Contents:

• HOCKEY PROSPECT LE PROKOP: 5 THGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE NHL’S FIRST OPENLY GAY PLAYER
• NASHVILLE PREDATORS PROSPECT LE PROKOP OUT, BE FIRST OPENLY GAY PLAYER NHL HISTORY
• LE PROKOP COM OUT AS GAY AND MAK NHL HISTORY
• AN INCLIVE NHL AWAS S FIRST OPENLY GAY PLAYER
• PROKOP REFLECTS ON YEAR SCE G OUT AS GAY
• GAY MALE HOCKEY PLAYERS ARE G OUT DROV, AND CHANGG THE SPORT’S CULTURE
• PREDATORS' LE PROKOP OUT AS GAY, BE NHL'S FIRST OPENLY GAY PLAYER
• NASHVILLE PREDATORS PROSPECT BE FIRST ACTIVE PLAYER UNR NHL NTRACT TO E OUT AS GAY
• NHL PROSPECT LE PROKOP OUT AS GAY, A FIRST FOR THE LEAGUE

HOCKEY PROSPECT LE PROKOP: 5 THGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE NHL’S FIRST OPENLY GAY PLAYER

Nashville Predators prospect Le Prokop announced on Monday he's gay, beg the first player unr an NHL ntract to publicly e out. Before Prokop's announcement, no NHL player – active or retired – had e out as gay. " "I hope that sharg who I am I n help other people see that gay people are wele the hockey muny, " he add.

"Bettman and NHL Players Associatn Executive Director Don Fehr also offered public support to Prokop on Monday followg his 's announcement on the heels of Las Vegas Rairs fensive end Carl Nassib g out as gay and beg the first active NFL player to be publicly out. NBA player Jason Colls me out towards the tail end of his reer 2013, and MLS player Robbie Rogers retired four years after he publicly me out as gay '13. Le Prokop, a prospect for the Nashville Predators, me out as gay on Monday.

NASHVILLE PREDATORS PROSPECT LE PROKOP OUT, BE FIRST OPENLY GAY PLAYER NHL HISTORY

Nashville Predators prospect Le Prokop has e out as gay, beg the first active player unr ntract to an NHL team to do so. High-level female hockey players, such as Olympic gold medalist Meghan Duggan, have prevly e out as gay, acrdg to the league. Prokop's announcement ls than a month after Las Vegas Rairs fensive end Carl Nassib beme the first active NFL player to e out as gay.

There has never been an openly gay player the NHL. Not one player the league’s 103-year existence has ever e out publicly as gay – not even retirement.

I have heard the explanatns, rangg om the ludicro (there are no “gays” the league) to the simplistic (the game’s hateful, toxic male culture driv gay players unrground). I believe, however, that won’t be long before the NHL has openly gay players lacg up their skat and others workg the ranks of management and hockey operatns.

LE PROKOP COM OUT AS GAY AND MAK NHL HISTORY

Related: Is the NHL Ready for a Gay Player? NHL missner Gary Bettman regnized this 2016 when he spoke about the league’s partnership wh the You Can Play anizatn, workg to dismantle barriers met by gay athlet sport. But I thk ’s our job to create a culture and an environment where a gay player knows he is safe and wele.

If and when that happens, believe me, that person will have the full support of the missner’s office” (om “Gary Bettman says NHL is ready for s first openly gay player, ” The Chigo Tribune, 29/06/2016) Commissner Gary Bettman (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)Today, hockey mt reflect the changg valu of s fan base. Fans of the future will not accept homophobia the sports and entertament products they Are No Gay Players the NHL.., there are now and always have been gay players the NHL.

AN INCLIVE NHL AWAS S FIRST OPENLY GAY PLAYER

Admtedly, precise timat of the gay populatn the league are notorly difficult to fd.

Nohels, acrdg to a 2017 Gallup study based on 340, 000 terviews, the percentage of Amerin adults intifyg as lbian, gay, bisexual or transgenr 2017 was 4.

Takg to acunt the multatnal makp of the NHL, let’s assume gay men make up half that number or 2. If the assumptns hold then, wh roughly 700 players the NHL, we n reasonably expect at least 15 gay players the league any given year.

PROKOP REFLECTS ON YEAR SCE G OUT AS GAY

That means that, over the years, there have probably been several hundred gay NHLers, all of whom prumably kept their sexual orientatn hidn om the still sist that, notwhstandg the odds, there are simply no gay men playg the NHL. Mark Tewksbury, an Olympic gold medalist swimmg at the 1992 Olympic gam, a former chef missn of Canada’s 2012 Summer Olympic team and a proment gay activist sports for many years, sffs at that ia. Canadian Olympian Mark Tewksbury on Gay Players the NHLAsked a Canadian Broadstg Corporatn terview why there are no gay players the NHL, he uld barely nta a lgh.

Rollg his ey, he explaed, “There’s no gay hockey players bee there haven’t been any the NHL who’ve ever e out, not even retirement.

There Probably Are Gay Players the NHL. What’s more, no public figure should have to face the expectatn of beg the poster child for gay rights if they don’t want to be.

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

If ed there are no gay players the NHL, that would set the league apart om the other “Big Four” profsnal sports leagu North Ameri.

PREDATORS' LE PROKOP OUT AS GAY, BE NHL'S FIRST OPENLY GAY PLAYER

The Natnal Football League has had seven openly gay players. Major League Baseball has had two players who were openly gay. One of whom was Glenn Burke, who me out while he was playg for the Oakland Athletics back 1977, and who said, “They n’t ever say now that a gay man n’t play the majors, bee I’m a gay man and I ma .

NASHVILLE PREDATORS PROSPECT BE FIRST ACTIVE PLAYER UNR NHL NTRACT TO E OUT AS GAY

” The Natnal Basketball Associatn has had two players who me out as gay, one durg his fal year the league.

Speakg of the absence of openly gay players the NHL, Tampa Bay Lightng goaltenr Anrs Nilsson, a proment supporter of the LGBT+ muny, said, “When people say there are three to four gay players on each [NHL] team, I say no, absolutely not.

” He further explaed that if he had been gay, playg as a teen, he would have qu bee of the homophobic slurs on the ice, the drsg rooms and the stands – all over the hockey Nilsson as an Ottawa Senator (Js Starr/The Hockey Wrers)So, what’s up wh the NHL? While there may be very few gay players the league or perhaps none at any given moment, ’s clear that over the s, there mt have been many skatg Hockey Culture to Blame?

NHL PROSPECT LE PROKOP OUT AS GAY, A FIRST FOR THE LEAGUE

Many claim the culture of hockey driv gay players unrground. One of them is Brock McGillis, now an LGBTQ+ activist who played profsnal hockey the mor leagu and was one of the first pros to e out publicly as gay. He explaed, “There’s this ia that to be a hockey player, you have to be macho, hyper-mascule, a ‘bro’ tough guy…And the language and attus and actns wh the sport almost give the ia that if you’re gay, you’re ls than the thgs.

You’re weak, you’re soft, you’re effemate” (om “Culture of Hockey: Q&A wh Brock McGillis, the first openly gay pro hockey player, ” The Hockey News, 04/12/2019) slurs are mon hockey om midget hoe leagu to major junr and llege. (om “Hockey and Homophobia: We are All Complic, ” The Globe and Mail, 21/04/2016)McGillis poted to Mark Crawford’s one-month spensn 2019 as an example of the anti-gay culture that still permeat the league. At the time, Crawford was an assistant ach wh the Chigo Blackhawks spend for g homophobic language directed at his players.

Marc Crawford (THW Archiv)Worse still, former Calgary Flam head ach Bill Peters lost his job for g racist and, acrdg to McGillis, homophobic language. McGillis asked, “Do you really thk a gay player is g out ( that culture)? ” This all mak very difficult for gay players to e out.