Avery Stone, an out lesbian hockey player at Amherst College, tells the story of visiting Bryant University recently to speak about her participation in Jeff Sheng’s Fearless campaign photo series. Before she got to her speaking engagement, someone at the school had stolen all of Sheng’s photos from the exhibit. Stone writes about her feelings [...]
Posts under ‘Hockey’
Canadians say ‘You Can Play’
Several new ‘You Can Play’ videos have come out of Canada in the last week, and a couple have some interesting hooks (see all three below). The University of Ottawa’s athletic department (they’re called the Gee-Gees) teamed up to create a bilingual video in French and English. Ottawa borders the province of Quebec, which has [...]
Story of anti-gay joke shows the power of casual homophobia
Dave Bossmin says he’s an openly gay amateur hockey player on a gay team…and a closeted hockey player on his “straight” team. He wrote a guest editorial for Xtra! in which he tells a story of why he isn’t out to his “straight” team. A league official entered while our team was getting cleaned up. [...]
Pro hockey player Mike McKenna: ‘Homophobia no different than racism’
Add goalie Mike McKenna of the Binghamton (N.Y.) Senators to the growing list of straight allies in hockey, spurred on by the “You Can Play” campaign. McKenna tweeted this is reaction to a story about two other teammates supporting “You Can Play”: Share on Facebook
Gay teen Canadian hockey player chronicled coming out in 365 YouTube videos
Canadian Scott Heggart, a 21-year-old from Ottawa, is getting a lot of attention for the Ottawa Citizen story about his coming out process as a gay hockey player. It’s a nicely detailed piece that delves into Scott’s journey from being totally in the closet, to coming out to his parents and siblings and eventually his [...]
In new film “Goon,” hockey player gets beaten up after using gay slur
“Goon” is a new movie about a hockey brawler, played by Seann William Scott. There is a decided gay angle, with Scott having a younger brother who is gay. Scott evens gets goaded by his friend into wearing 69 as his uniform number because “it’s hilarious.” Then there’s the angle that starts the plot: “Goon” [...]
Puck Buddys interview with a gay high school hockey player
Our friends over at Puck Buddys, the terrific website for gay hockey fans, are publishing the first part of an interview with Zach, a gay high school hockey player. Zach is a gay hockey player. He’s been skating since he was a kid and moved up through the ranks from his area’s youth hockey leagues [...]
St. Michael’s College athletics teams combine for awesome It Gets Better video
This is cool — players from the men’s and women’s basketball teams, men’s hockey team and tennis team have combined to produce an It Gets Better video for St. Michael’s College in Vermont. One of the editors of the video is Brian Healey, captain of the Purple Knights men’s tennis team, who says this: I’m [...]
Swedish hockey player Alen Bibic shows Henrik Eriksson what happens when he gets a hug
You just scored a big goal against your rival, you’re overwhelmed with excitement…so what happens if you “accidentally” celebrate by hugging a guy from the other team? In Sweden, Mora IK’s Henrik Eriksson found out when he scored in the second period last month against rival Leksand. Eriksson wrapped an arm around Leksand’s Alen Bibic, who [...]
DePaul’s student body president is a gay athlete
Anthony Alfano was deep in the closet when he entered DePaul University, America’s largest Catholic university. Just three years later he’s openly gay and was elected the school’s student body president. The openly gay part is recent: He came out last month as part of National Coming Out Day. Still, other students have known for [...]
‘The Legacy of Brendan Burke’ documentary to air on Logo
Logo will take a break from catty bitches in New York and Dallas this weekend to air a CBC documentary about openly gay former Miami University hockey team student-manager Brendan Burke. ‘The Legacy of Brendan Burke’ will air Saturday, Nov. 5, at 8pm. Burke’s coming out and untimely death made our list of 100 most [...]
Taking a date to a hockey game
From our friends at Puck Buddys comes a nice little story about Bobby and Jon and their date at a Dallas Stars NHL game. Bobby, 23, is a huge Stars fan and he realized his dating relationship with Jon was going well when he agreed to attend a game. “I was so excited for him [...]
Moment #17: Brendan Burke’s passing away leaves a void
Part of Outsports’ series on our 100 most important moments in gay sports history. Hockey, 2010. When Brendan Burke, student manager of the Miami (Ohio) hockey team, came out of the closet on ESPN.com in late 2009, the story was touching and heartwarming. The support of his father, Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke, was [...]
Gay teenage hockey player fears for his safety if he is found out
Note: Bumped to the top of the blog since it has gotten an interesting dialogue going. We have written a lot celebrating how it has gotten better for many gay teenage athletes, profiling several this year with their heartwarming stories of acceptance. But this story out of Northumberland County in Ontario, Canada, reminds us that [...]
Moment #81: Brendan Burke comes out
Part of Outsports’ series on our 100 most important moments in gay sports history. Hockey, 2009: Brendan Burke came from a hockey family. His dad, Brian, has been a longtime NHL general manager and his brother Patrick works as a scout for the Philadelphia Flyers. So it was no secret that Brendan would follow in [...]
Successful discussion of gay issues at American Hockey Coaches Association convention
GForce hockey and Patrick Burke held a panel discussion at the American Hockey Coaches Association convention last weekend. The discussion was attended by coaches at all levels of hockey. A full press release on the convention and the group’s push to further discussions of gay athletes in hockey is after the jump. Share on [...]
Discussion of gay issues to take place at national hockey coaches convention
More great news out of college hockey. GForce is again teaming up with Patrick Burke to present a conversation, this time at the American Hockey Coaches Convention, April 28-May 1 in Naples, Fla. The panel discussion features Burke, out former Oneonta State lacrosse captain Andrew McIntosh, and out former Univ. of Pennsylvania hockey captain Dave [...]
Hershey Bears saying no to homophobic taunts
The minor league hockey team Hershey Bears in Pennsylvania are saying no to homophobic taunting from their own fans, all because a lesbian fan had had enough. From GLAAD: The incidents were brought to the team’s attention by Bears fan Abigail Habbert. Habbert and her partner are season ticket holders, and noticed in January that [...]
Miami’s Andy Miele signs with Phoenix Coyotes
Miami (Ohio) star hockey player Andy Miele signed with the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes over the weekend. At just 5-foot-9, Miele beat the odds to lead the NCAA in scoring this season and land an NHL contract. Last week Miele, several of his teammates and head coach Enrico Blasi talked with us about the gay-friendly environment of [...]
Miami hockey team talks about Brendan Burke, accepting gay people and rejecting homophobia
The Miami (Ohio) hockey team has a proud tradition, but few things make their players more proud than their accepting, welcoming attitude toward all people including gays and lesbians. We talked with several players and the team’s head coach for an article, out today. One of their strongest voices in the team’s fight against homophobia [...]