Homosexuality in NHL

This week's blog I decided to bring up the topic of homosexuality in hockey...specifically the NHL. This weekend as I was channel surfing an episode on the TV show 'Marketplace' caught my attention. The episode talked about homosexuality in hockey and how there is no openly gay males in the NHL, this was surprising to me. Being in a world where homosexuality is pretty much accepted…we see gay marriages all the time…celebrities such as Ellen DeGeneres ‘coming out’ and other athletes in other sports such as Olympic swimming champion Mark Tewksbury, just to name a few have admitted to being gay, but the fact that no hockey player has admitted to being gay is astounding to me. The stigma of homosexuality is obviously still an ongoing issue. The show also profiled Brendan Burke, the son of Toronto Maple Leafs, General Manager, Brian Burke. Brendan was an openly gay male who came out to his family then to the world on ESPN.com. Brendan was the manager for the hockey team at Miami University in Ohio and was becoming the closest person to the NHL ever to come out publically and say he was gay, sadly Brendan died in a car accident on Feb 5, 2010. A bit of Brendan’s statement from the ESPN interview was “I think it’s important my story is told to people because there are a lot of gay athletes out there and gay people working in pro sports that deserve to know there are safe environments where people are supportive regardless of your sexual orientation,”. Brendan’s father Brian has become an advocate for homosexuality, he participated in the gay pride parade, and attends various dinners, and it’s quite a symbol to see this big, burly GM of the NHL participate in these functions. It should show these athletes that it’s ok to be you and not to be intimidated by the league. We all know that hockey is perceived as a macho sport which players have a tough mentality but should that really stop them from accepting homosexuality in the league? With modern society today is the NHL finally ready to accept gay hockey players? These are just a couple of questions that entered my mind as I thought about this issue. Maybe it just takes one brave soul to break the barrier and finally make every one realize that someone’s sexual orientation doesn’t define them as a person nor as a player!!