Nashville Predators prospect Le Prokop says he is gay, hop livg 'thentic life' helps NHL reer - ESPN

Contents:

• KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY
• PROKOP REFLECTS ON YEAR SCE G OUT AS GAY
• GAY MALE HOCKEY PLAYERS ARE G OUT DROV, AND CHANGG THE SPORT’S CULTURE
• CALLG PRI JERSEYS A DISTRACTN IS SENDG THE WRONG MSAGE, SAYS NHL'S FIRST OPENLY-GAY AGENT
• JAGUARS STRENGTH COACH MAXEN COM OUT AS GAY
• GAY WATER, A NEW NNED CKTAIL, WANTS TO BE THE ANTI-BUD LIGHT
• NHL PROSPECT LE PROKOP OUT AS GAY, A FIRST FOR THE LEAGUE
• REPORT: NHL ACTUALLY HAS HAD HUNDREDS OF OPENLY GAY PLAYERS FOR YEARS
• OPENLY GAY NHL PROSPECT LE PROKOP CALLS OUT LACK OF 'INCLN' AFTER PLAYERS BOYTT PRI NIGHT
• GAY HOCKEY PLAYER: NHL HYPOCRIL TO NMN BRENDAN LEIPSIC WHOUT CHANGG CULTURE
• LE PROKOP COM OUT AS GAY AND MAK NHL HISTORY
• NASHVILLE PREDATORS PROSPECT LE PROKOP SAYS HE IS GAY, HOP LIVG 'THENTIC LIFE' HELPS NHL REER
• AN N.H.L. PROSPECT IS THE FIRST SUCH PLAYER TO ANNOUNCE HE’S 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

KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY

Kev Maxen has bee the first male ach a US men’s profsnal sports league to e out as gay. Per Outsports, as of September 2022, there have only ever been 16 players NFL history to publicly e out as gay or bisexual. Carl Nassib beme the first active NFL player league history to announce that he is gay 2021.

Per Outsports, Maxen is the “first publicly out male ach a major Amerin men’s pro sports league, ” wh WNBA ach Curt Miller, who publicly me out to the media as gay 2015, also a publicly out male ach an Amerin profsnal sports league. 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.

PROKOP REFLECTS ON YEAR SCE G OUT AS GAY

"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.

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

Thomas Aquas College Upstate New York, Fkle often heard other players e anti-gay slurs. Fkle told the goalie he was gay, and that language was unacceptable to e on the ice — or anywhere, ankly. There are more openly gay figur all around the world of men’s hockey.

This year alone, longtime NCAA Divisn 1 ref Brian Hicks announced he was gay; player and referee Gordie Mchard me out; pro announcer Jonathan Kliment penned his g-out story. After a lifetime of hearg gay sults the rk — opponents were always lled “cksuckers” or “fuckg fags” — Wton cid to e out to his teammat a heartfelt speech. Over the last , an creasg number of gay female Olympic hockey players have e out.

CALLG PRI JERSEYS A DISTRACTN IS SENDG THE WRONG MSAGE, SAYS NHL'S FIRST OPENLY-GAY AGENT

He was playg an ele youth league, but years of homophobia and self-hatred drove him away om the sport. And if someone asks if you are gay, jt look at them olly and say, ‘Yeah, so what? Dpe his profsnal succs, however, the 36-year-old says he feared he uldn't be accepted as a gay man the sport.

JAGUARS STRENGTH COACH MAXEN COM OUT AS GAY

"There was always this fear that I uldn't live my te life — to be accepted as a gay man — and also be a succsful young executive the game.

The first openly gay NHL agent, Bayne Pettger, dropped by the CBC Victoria stud to share his NHL has always had this stereotype of beg an old boys club, not beg able to grow. Wnipeg LGBTQ advot disappoted followg NHL's cisn to ban themed jerseysYou are the first openly gay NHL agent, and I know you work wh many players, but you're also iends wh many players this league. Jt keepg foced on the posive, bee we n go down that rabb hole of five players of 700 … that's not a player's boytt of team's Pri night tribute 'disrpectful' to gay muny: agentCan you take back three years ago to what that was like for you on a personal level, given the role you play a huge league like the NHL, to e out?

I had a massive fear that I uldn't be succsful hockey and be gay, bee I didn't see anyone before me dog that. Unwele spotlight falls on NHL team Pri night eventsMy biggt fear was that I uldn't work hockey and be succsful and be gay, but fact 's been que the oppose.

GAY WATER, A NEW NNED CKTAIL, WANTS TO BE THE ANTI-BUD LIGHT

If a certa percentage of the populatn is queer, we need to have those seats at the table of Hockey 's Pri nights lli wh LGBTQ+ polil climateEveryone always asked me when we were gog to see the first gay NHL player.

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

There's an agent and a player that are gay and thrivg hockey, so why n't I? Jacksonville Jaguars assistant strength and ndng ach Kev Maxen me out as gay, and he's believed to be a first among achg ranks the four major men's pro sports: football, basketball, baseball, and hockey.

Nassib beme the first openly gay active player the NFL.

In a sea of nned cktails, Gay Water wants to stand out.

REPORT: NHL ACTUALLY HAS HAD HUNDREDS OF OPENLY GAY PLAYERS FOR YEARS

In other words, where Bud Light has buckled unr prsure as bigotry grows agast the LGBTQ+ muny, Gay Water’s creator Spencer Hodson wants his new boozy brand to be the anthis of that. “The key issue that Bud Light tapped to was the fact that they didn’t unrstand their re dience and know enough about them, ” Hodson, a gay man, told CNN about the ntroversy that began when the Anhser-Bch beer brand sent fluencer Dylan Mulvaney a n of beer.

Gay Water, however, is out and proud. The nned cktail is named after a lloquialism given to the popular mixed drk (vodka and soda) orred at bars by the gay muny.

“Puttg a product wh the word gay the tle is reprentatn self, ” which he hop reclaims the word om the negativy ’s sometim associated wh. He thought of creatg Gay Water about a year ago while on a vatn wh his iend that had got a job wh the beverage dtry.

OPENLY GAY NHL PROSPECT LE PROKOP CALLS OUT LACK OF 'INCLN' AFTER PLAYERS BOYTT PRI NIGHT

The two chatted about the limed amount of gay people wh , and wh Hodson burnt out om his tradnal day job tech, started the nned cktail.

Hodson built up a strong social media followg on TikTok and Instagram durg Covid-19 and is g some of the money om that (as well as om iends and fay) to help fund Gay Water. “Gay is an umbrella term and the ia behd the brand is to be as clive as possible, which means we want alli, we want straight people to be part of this muny we’re buildg.

For now, Gay Water is sold largely onle (wh a few retailers) and four sugar-ee flavors — watermelon, lime, peach and grapeu — at lnch. Gay Water might not have the ep pockets pared to s petors, like Whe Claw, but “even at small sle, pani of many siz are havg succs makg spir-based seltzers and premixed cktails, ” Bryan Roth, an analyst for Feel Goods Company and edor of the alhol beverage newsletter, Sightl+, told CNN. “There’s lots of space the spir-based seltzer tegory which Gay Water n play, pecially if the brand n offer a cultural or emotnal nnectn that will feel more excg than the prospect of another peapple-flavored vodka seltzer om natnal or ternatnal rporatns, ” Roth said.

GAY HOCKEY PLAYER: NHL HYPOCRIL TO NMN BRENDAN LEIPSIC WHOUT CHANGG CULTURE

Of urse, other drks e the word “gay, ” too, cludg Gay Beer and So Gay Rosé, Hodson noted, which are also tryg to reach the queer muny and offer them an alternative the straight-domated space. The power of visibily shows young LGBTQ athlet ’s possible to thrive as their te selv, spe the prevalence of sual homophobia and other anti-gay attus some rners of the sports world. Gat wr about how hearg “faggot” on the ice was a mon occurrence growg up, and that “llg someone gay was as much a part of youth hockey as parents yellg about a missed penalty.

LE PROKOP COM OUT AS GAY AND MAK NHL HISTORY

But that msage is unrcut when players don’t buy , and teams pulate to their homophobia. 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. Soccer midfielr Robbie Rogers g out as homosexual, reports revealed Friday that the Natnal Hockey League has fact had hundreds of openly gay athlet throughout s history. 0 Stunt Rejected From Universy Jt For Beg Whe RapistOffEnglishSourc nfirmed that gay players have actually been credibly mon the NHL for s, and the league is only now beg creded wh layg the groundwork for the growg acceptance of homosexualy profsnal sports.

NASHVILLE PREDATORS PROSPECT LE PROKOP SAYS HE IS GAY, HOP LIVG 'THENTIC LIFE' HELPS NHL REER

“It’s obvly a watershed moment when a player om the NBA announc he’s gay, but most people fet about Montreal Canadiens wger Steve Shutt, who me out back 1972, ” said hockey historian Hank Crerand, notg that Shutt was the first of many gay NHL players to reveal their homosexualy. “Even though gay athlet still rry a stigma today, ’s nothg pared to the ’70s.

”“The issue of gay athlet has now reached a major turng pot, and ’s only a matter of time before someone the NFL or MLB out, ” Crerand ntued.

”Sce s origal ceptn 1917 through to the “Origal 6” era of the ’40s, ’50s, and ’60s, the NHL has reportedly had a long history of gay players and was far ahead of s time batg prejudice and tolerance toward homosexualy wh locker rooms and stadiums. “Thgs really started to take a turn for the better when Mike Ezne beme the first openly gay pta of an Olympic hockey team to w a gold medal, leadg the U. ”“That kiss really changed a lot of attus wh the hockey muny, ” Crerand Probert, who played 16 seasons for the Detro Red Wgs and Chigo Blackhawks, reportedly had a huge impact on the league as hockey’s “Homo Enforcer, ” timidatg the petn and pummelg opponents wh vic punch.

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

Crerand told reporters that Probert was the “most feared queer” the NHL and transformed the perceptn that a homosexual hockey player uldn’t be a gay goon. Crerand strsed, however, that no athlete was more fluential to the gay rights movement than Wayne Gretzky, wily regard as the greatt gay player NHL history. “Number 99 pletely changed the landspe for gay athlet the NHL, pecially mercially, and no one had a greater impact on young gay hockey players around the world.

And that is, of urse, why the gay muny nicknamed him ‘The Great One. Louis, Rick Nash, Ryan Miller, Patrik Elias, Stephen Gnta, Clarke MacArthur, Patrick Dwyer, Mike Rupp, Carey Price, Dt Brown, Zbynek Michalek, Brad Richards, Derek Dorsett, Brian Boyle, David Krejci, Shea Weber, Derick Brassard, Sergei Gonchar, Bran Holtby, Brandon Dubsky, Stephane Robidas, Col Greeng, Jam Reimer, Kev Poul, Brandon Pst, Travis Hamonic, Mart Brour, Joakim Anrsson, Vcent Levalier, Josh Green, Daniel Aledsson, Joe Thornton, Arron Asham, Alexanr Steen, Michael Del Zotto, Patrice Bergeron, Matt Duchene, Teddy Purcell, Michael Ryr, Tomas Fleischmann, Lars Eller, Daniel Wnik, Jyri Niemi, Mikhail Grigorenko, Evanr Kane, David Back, Jiri Tlty, Sam Gagner, David Dharnais, Cody Franson, Steve Ott, Dt Byfuglien, Casey Cizikas, Daniel Sed, Brian Campbell, Ilya Kovalch, Chris Neil, Patrick Sharp, Jaromir Jagr, Hal Gill, Mark Grdano, Marc-Andre Flry, Ray Whney, Mike Cammalleri, Lee Stempniak, Jam van Riemsdyk, Mart Hanzal, David Clarkson, Vny Prospal, Taylor Hall, Ryan Getzlaf, Andrew Ladd, Alexanr Sem, Max Pacretty, Brenn Dillon, Jonathan Toews, Jordan Eberle, Marian Hossa, Frans Nielsen, Alex Galcheny, Bobby Ryan, Manny Malhotra, Mike Fisher, Bryan Ltle, Nail Yakupov, Patrick Marle, Jonathan Huber, Tyler Ennis, Craig Anrson, Saku Koivu, Shane Doan, Ryan Whe, Blake Wheeler, Evgeni Nabokov, Mark Fraser, Jeff Carter, Nicklas Backstrom, Michael Grabner, Brendan Gallagher, Tomas Plekanec, John Tavar, Taylor Pyatt, Alex Burrows, Rene Bourque, Jason Chimera, Jofey Lupul, Corey Perry, Brad Stuart, Jt Williams, Matt Cullen, Marian Gaborik, Patrik Berglund, Brian Elltt, Josh Hardg, Daniel Cleary, Roberto Luongo, Nazem Kadri, Zach Parise, Eric Staal, Jordan Staal, Marc Staal, Jared Staal, Steven Stamkos, and Ryan Kler all g out as gay recent years. Acrdg to experts, the league’s progrsive stance toward homosexualy also paved the way for the 2013 Philalphia Flyers, the only profsnal sports roster history to be prised entirely of gay players.

“It’s nice to see the rt of the sports world begng to tch up to the NHL when to gay tolerance, ” said ESPN hockey analyst Barry Melrose, himself openly gay sce the early 1990s.

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

“A lot of cred also has to go to Gary Bettman, still the only openly homosexual missner of a North Amerin sports league.

”“But whout a doubt, none of this would have been possible whout the unbelievable altism and open-mdns of the NHL fan base, ” add Melrose, “It’s far easier for players to be tly fortable their own sk knowg so many fans are gay too.

20-year-old Prokop, the first openly gay player wh a ntract unr the NHL, penned a thoughtful msage about players the league who have opposed wearg pri jerseys or g rabow stick tape durg their teams' annual pri events. Prokop me out as gay 2021, one year after beg selected by the Nashville team the 2020 NHL Draft.