Brendan Burke, openly gay son of Toronto Maple Leaf General Manager Brian Burke, is killed r crash

Contents:

• GAY ‘NHL SON’ BRENDAN BURKE DI IN CAR ACCINT
• NHL G.M. BRIAN BURKE SUPPORTS HIS GAY SON
• BRENDAN BURKE, OPENLY GAY SON OF TORONTO MAPLE LEAF GENERAL MANAGER BRIAN BURKE, IS KILLED R CRASH
• BRENDAN BURKE, 21; RAISED AWARENS BY G OUT AS YOUNG, GAY ATHLETE
• GAY ATHLET SPORTS: WHY YOU SHOULD RE ABOUT BRENDAN BURKE

GAY ‘NHL SON’ BRENDAN BURKE DI IN CAR ACCINT

Lyg on the si of the road was his 21-year-old son, who had stunned the hockey world three months earlier when he'd e out as the first openly gay man closely nnected to the NHL. Nobody affiliated wh the NHL—active, retired, or ad—was out as gay, bee hockey isn't like any other sport.

NHL G.M. BRIAN BURKE SUPPORTS HIS GAY SON

What they didn't know was that Brendan was sick of listeng to the locker-room slurs about faggots and homos and the dread cksucker. Brendan was the first person he'd ever told, even though people had been tntg him about beg gay sce he was a ltle boy.

" When Brendan saw Stt stgglg wh g out to his fay, he walked him over to stunt health servic to set up some unselg was Brendan's turn to e out to Stt their sophomore year.

BRENDAN BURKE, OPENLY GAY SON OF TORONTO MAPLE LEAF GENERAL MANAGER BRIAN BURKE, IS KILLED R CRASH

Then he said, 'I know we've talked a lot about you beg gay, and I want you to know you're not alone. He was g off a road trip to Rho Island when Brendan told him he was gay: "I had a bunch of bags the r, and I went si to tell Brendan he had to help get the luggage out. We're walkg to the r and he said, 'I have somethg to tell you: I'm gay.

' The whole nversatn was about thirty sends long, and when I opened the door I yelled, 'Mom, you owe me twenty bucks—I told you he was gay!

BRENDAN BURKE, 21; RAISED AWARENS BY G OUT AS YOUNG, GAY ATHLETE

I still thk that beg gay our society, there's a great burn to , and that's not right. If you told an NHL player, 'You're gog to have a gay teammate, ' the first thg that would pop to his md is Richard Simmons skippg to the locker room a leotard and then he ss on your lap. You're walkg home om a bar and some football player or some other guy cis we're gonna teach this homo a lson.

Duthie seemed nervo troducg Brendan and lgered awkwardly on the word gay, stretchg to two syllabl, but nobody blked. If he had any trepidatn about tellg hockey fans across the untry that he was gay, didn't show.

"There are a lot of gay athlet out there and gay people workg pro sports that serve to know that there are safe environments where people are supportive of you regardls of your sexual orientatn. "After the terview, there were the ual nasty trolls postg on the Inter, but Brendan also received hundreds of e-mails and letters om gay athlet across North Ameri thankg him for g out. "Dpe the rock-'em-sock-'em, no-cksuckers-allowed culture of the hockey world, Patrick is optimistic about the future: "I know there are people who would disagree wh me, but I thk the next five years we're gog to have a gay player e out.

GAY ATHLET SPORTS: WHY YOU SHOULD RE ABOUT BRENDAN BURKE

I have to thk that some of the gay players the NHL have seen this and are thkg about , too. "···Wh weeks of Brendan's ath, gay and lbian advot were reachg out directly for some of Brian Burke's ndlepower.

Back the fall, Jack had found the gay-straight alliance at his school.