As of 2015, there are 178 pro athletes that are or were ‘out of the closet,’ ten of those people being ice hockey players. The majority of women hockey players who are open about their sexuality are greater than men, with seven women going public about their sexual orientation. Those women are well known and well liked hockey players such as Caitlin Cahow of the Boston Blades, Nancy Drolet of the Canadian women’s hockey team, Erika Holst of the Sweden women’s national ice hockey team, Angela James who was a former member of many Central Ontario Women’s Hockey League teams, Charline Labonté of the Montreal Stars, Ylva Lindberg who is an Olympic ice hockey player, and Sarah Vaillancourt of the Montreal Stars. With many athletes like Michael Sam and Jason Collins being open to the public about their homosexuality and being accpeted by the NFL and NBA, it’s a head scratcher as to why there are not many hockey players being open to the public about their sexual orientation in the NHL. It would seem that with more people being accepting of homosexual athletes, hockey players would feel comfortable enough to ‘come out’ and be who they are. In fact, it shouldn’t even be a big deal to begin with. With a sport that has an enormous fan base that keeps on growing (approx. 50 million if not more), there would most likely be a great percentage of fans who would be accepting of a gay man playing hockey. The real question is why do hockey players feel the need to hide? Is it just that they would like to keep their private lives private? Is it because they’re afraid of the fan reaction and possibly ‘tainting’ their team? Are they worried about their own safety? Or is it because of how they feel their teammates might react? In today’s opinion piece, I explore homosexuality in the National Hockey League, ask fans for their opinion on where homosexuality stands in hockey, talk about how the Montreal Canadiens may be the most welcoming team for a gay athlete, and state my own opinion on the subject.

The first piece we’re going to look at is how homosexuality is treated in sports in both Canada and the USA, the two countries best known for hockey. Let’s look at the United States first.

In 1985, the Los Angeles Blades was organized as the first gay hockey team in the United States. 14 years later in 1999, the New York City Gay Hockey Association was organized (one of the founders, Jeff Kagan decided to organize the league after playing with the Toronto Gay Hockey Association).

Now, we will look at Canada.

Canada boasts a large LGBT sports community, having hosted the inaugural World OutGames, which is open to all who wish to participate without regard to sexual orientation. Local organizations like Equipe Montreal, OutSport Toronto and Team Vancouver represent LGBT sports within their respective cities. Canada is also well known for its You Can Play campaign that was launched in 2012. You Can Play was founded by former General Manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs Brian Burke and his son Patrick, prior to Brian’s other son Brendan’s death from a car crash in February of 2010. Brendan, who was openly gay and played hockey is known as “the closest person to the NHL to ever come out publicly and say that he is gay” and was an advocate for tolerance and speaking out about homophobia in professional sports.

The difference between the support towards homosexual athletes in the United States and in Canada is quite different, as you can see above. While Canada is very open about supporting hockey players and athletes overall who are part of the LGBT community, the United States seems limited when it comes to being open to homosexuality in sports. However, this does not nessacarily mean that all of the United States are against homosexuals in NHL. In fact, the You Can Play Campaign is supported by the following NHL players, some who are from the United States:

Daniel Alfredsson, David Backes, Patrice Bergeron, Mikkel Bødker, Brian Boyle, Tyler Bozak, Tim Brent, Dustin Brown, Brent Burns, Dustin Byfuglien, Ryan Callahan, Brian Campbell, Zdeno Chára, Cal Clutterbuck, Logan Couture, Sidney Crosby, Shane Doan, Jordan Eberle, Brian Elliott, Mark Fayne, Andrew Ference, TJ Galiardi, Jason Garrison, Brian Gionta, Claude Giroux, Tanner Glass, Tim Gleason, Andy Greene, Scott Hartnell, Matt Hendricks, Braden Holtby, Ryan Jones, Nazem Kadri, Duncan Keith, Ryan Kesler, Mike Knuble, Gabriel Landeskog, Henrik Lundqvist, Joffrey Lupul, Manny Malhotra, Alec Martinez, Andy Miele, Brenden Morrow, David Moss, Matt Moulson, Douglas Murray, Rick Nash, Frans Nielsen, Brooks Orpik, Zach Parise, George Parros, Corey Perry, Dion Phaneuf, Jason Pominville, Carey Price, Brandon Prust, Tuomo Ruutu, Henrik Sedin, Ben Smith, Steven Stamkos, David Steckel, Ryan Suter, Joe Thornton, Jonathan Toews, RJ Umberger, James Van Riemsdyk, Shea Weber, Kevin Westgarth, Ryan Whitney, Tommy Wingels, Keith Yandle.

When it comes to how homosexuality is treated in hockey in both Canada and the USA, it seems that the two countries both seem on board but on different levels. Canada seems to have had more of a movement when it comes to gay rights in sports than the United States has. This is not to say that all of the US of A aren’t ‘down with the gays,’ but perhaps it’s due to people’s personal belief systems. A February 2014 New York Times/CBS News opinion poll showed 56% support for same-sex marriage, while recent polls have indicated that a large majority of Canadians support same-sex marriage and Canada is considered one of the most “gay friendly” countries.

The second piece we will look at are the hockey players who do and who do not support or are open to homosexuality in the NHL. First, let’s look at the players who are open to homosexuality in the NHL:

In 2013 after new anti-gay laws were announced in Russia, well known hockey players like Sidney Crosby, Shea Weber, Victor Hedman, and Henrik Zetterberg showed their support for gay athletes. Henrik Zetterberg made a comment in regards to Russia’s new anti-gay laws by stating the following, “Awful, just awful. I think that everyone should be able to be themselves. It’s unbelievable that it can be this way in this time, especially in a big country like Russia.” St. Louis Blues center David Backes and Zach Parise of the Minnesota Wild also made supportive comments, making it clear that it doesn’t matter what your sexual orientation is when it comes to the sport. In an article from Global News on February 24th, 2014, Los Angeles Kings captain Dustin Brown responded when asked about what his reaction would be if one of his teammates came out by saying, “I think as a group of guys, we would be fine with it. There might be some players who are uncomfortable, but they’d be okay with it. The one thing, for me as a captain (I’d say): ‘This is our teammate … He’s going to help us win games. It’s not any different from two weeks ago when we were battling together.’ If that type of situation arose, this guy’s our teammate and we’re going to have his back no matter what.”

When it comes to homophobic players there’s not much ‘action’ or many comments, most likely due to the fear of being suspended or ‘hated’ by their peers and fans for their opinion on the topic. Three cases of homophobia have been seen in the NHL, two of the cases surfacing one month apart from each other. Let’s look at the first case:

Only July 8th, 2013, Tyler Seguin of the Dallas Stars was said to have ‘quit Twitter’ after his account posted a homophobic movie reference that stated, “Only steers and queers in Texas, and I’m not a cow.” This wasn’t the only time Seguin had tweeted something homophobic. In April of 2013, he apologized for a tweet including the phrase “no homo.” He blamed the first tweet on being tired and not knowing what you’re saying, but blamed his second tweet on hacking. Patrick Burke, president of the You Can Play campaign responded with a tweet that said, “It’s obviously his moron “friends” grabbing his phone and projecting their stupidity all over his public reputation.”

Now the second case:

On August 27th, 2013, former NHLer Ilya Kovalchuk responded to the new anti-gay laws in Russia by saying he supports the new laws, “I agree, of course. I’m Russian and we all have to respect that. It’s personal and, like I said, it’s a free world, but that’s our line. That’s our country, so everybody has to respect that.”

And finally the third case:

When asked about his views on Russia’s draconian homophobic legislation in 2013, Red Wings forward Pavel Datsyuk deferred to his religious beliefs on the matter. Datsyuk is a member of the Russian Orthodox Church — whose leadership considers homosexuality a “dangerous, apocalyptic condition” and supports laws that restrict civil liberties for the country’s LGBT community.

The third piece we will be looking at are the fans’ answers as to whether or not they would support a homosexual in the NHL. I asked hockey fans on both Facebook and Twitter whether or not they would welcome a gay man in to the National Hockey League and whether or not they encourage hockey players ‘in the closet’ to come out. We’ll first take a look at the Facebook responses:

Dominic Paradis: “Homosexuality shouldn’t matter in any place in society, least of all in hockey. Talent should be the only thing they should be judged on. So yes I would accept a gay man in hockey and those that are already in the league should not be afraid to come out. No one should be forced to pretend they’re something they’re not.”

Tim Burton: “^^ What he said. Who you lay down beside at night has no bearing on how much “hockey sense” a player has. It shouldn’t matter to anybody.”

Chad Pare: “When will people wake up and accept the fact that sexual orientation has no bearing on an individual’s ability. It should make no difference if the player comes out and says they are gay or not. They are still the same person. Anyone that has a problem with it should be ashamed of themselves.

Bruce Herney: “Yes and it’s up to the individual to out himself.”

Roland Briere: “1. Each sport culture is different I suppose. But in the fire service I served with both gay men and women. Dedication and competence meant more to me as an officer. 2. I believe every individual has to make the choice for themselves.

Now we will look at the Twitter responses:

@strucxtures Just my opinion, but hockey fans seem to be more down-to-earth than fans of other sports. A gay player should be a non-issue. — Andy S (@freudensteiner) January 8, 2015

@strucxtures assuming they WANTED to, yes. Why be something that you aren’t? — Andy S (@freudensteiner) January 8, 2015

@strucxtures Yeah, why the hell not lol — Ashley March (@MarchHockey) January 7, 2015

@strucxtures definetly 21st century people care less and less about what a man or woman does in their private lives, Michael Sam for example — Browniee (@ConnorBrownies) January 7, 2015

@strucxtures Yep. Have never understood why a person’s sexuality is an issue for anyone but that person. — Karl Leys (@LeysKarl) January 7, 2015

@strucxtures without a doubt. If they have what it takes to make it to the NHL I don’t see the problem of persons sexual preference — lil’ bit (@GunShotRomantic) January 7, 2015

@strucxtures @GetRealHockey as an NHL fan, absolutely I would. To quote the YCP motto, if you can play, you can play (that’s what counts) — Dinur Blum (@rabbi_d) January 7, 2015

@strucxtures @GetRealHockey I would encourage, but only if they felt safe doing so — Dinur Blum (@rabbi_d) January 7, 2015

@strucxtures Who’s to say there isn’t one playing right now….?? — Tauro (@hab4lyf73) January 7, 2015

@strucxtures Only if they want to. Their choice, not anyone else’s…. — Tauro (@hab4lyf73) January 7, 2015

The fan reaction was mostly (if not all) extremely supportive and encouraging. This shows us that even though there are possibly (and most likely) homophobic hockey fans, there would still be a great amount of support that would outweigh the negativity. This also shows us that times are changing and that most fans just care about the sport and not what the players are doing on their own time or what their sexual orientation is. But just because the fans are supportive doesn’t mean every hockey coach, general manager, and/or owner will be okay with this. This is why I took a deep look to see where homosexuality stands with the ‘big boys’ in hockey and to my surprise there were not many people, besides Brian Burke, who have come out with their support or opinions. I did, however come across someone who has stated that his team would welcome an openly gay player. This someone is Geoff Molson, owner of the most well known hockey team in the world; The Montreal Canadiens.

In an article from the Montreal Gazette that was posted on November 19, 2014, Geoff Molson spoke about where the Montreal Canadiens stand when it comes to welcoming an openly gay player on their team. “I can only speak for the Montreal Canadiens on a question like that and there is an extremely open environment. Not only with our team, but also with our fans. Everyone and everybody is welcome in the Montreal Canadiens organization.” This comment was made on the same day that Jason Collins became the first openly gay player to retire from the NBA. Molson also stated at an event organized by the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations that “Any opportunity to be inclusive is a good one, and that starts from the top down. (This kind of) leadership is really important in any situation, not just this one.

Hockey’s most storied franchise backing a movement for change is a strong one and extremely comforting for any of the Habs troops (past, current, or future) who could possibly be gay. However, the NHL has never had an openly gay player which might make the first player to come out stressed and overwhelmed. However, Brian Burke fully supports any NHL player who decides to come out. In fact, he said “I believe we’re closer than a lot of people think. We’re within about two years or so in the NHL from having a player come out.”

The fourth and final piece is my own personal opinion on the subject. Being apart of the LGBTQ+ community, there is already a natural support for any person to be able to play the sport they want to play. However, there is more to it than just supporting my community.

There are constant stereotypes that go along with gay men in sports. There’s the “Oh no, what if he looks at me in the locker room?” stereotype, the “Gay men are weak and can’t play ‘strong’ sports like football or hockey” stereotype, and then there’s the typical “If gay people play with us, what are other people going to think?” mentality. I’m here to break down those stereotypes for you not just to hand out logic, but to really see how silly these thoughts are.

“Oh no, what if he looks at me in the locker room?” – First of all, let’s take in the fact that most guys who play sports are only in it because of the sports. In the locker room, they’re not going to be thinking about how nice your body looks or how handsome you are. They’re going to be getting dressed, they’re going to be mentally preparing themselves for the game, and they’re not going to be focusing on your ‘good looks.’ Second of all, even if a player did look at you in the locker room, who cares? If anything, I would personally take it as a compliment if I was in that position. If both sexes can find me attractive, that’s enough to make my confidence boost through the roof. Not to mention, they’re most likely not going to act on their attraction and/or feelings for you because as I said above, they’re there for the sport.

“Gay men are weak and can’t play ‘strong’ sports like football or hockey.” – Okay, this is one of the most silliest things I have ever heard in my life. I have seen my fair share of gay fire fighters, cops, paramedics, body builders, construction workers, and many other men who’s jobs require hard labour. If they can take on those jobs that require lots of skills and hard work, they can tackle sports like football or hockey. It’s not all about being physical either. What about the mental aspect of sports? Preparing for a game, training, thinking about what you will be doing in your position in the sport you play, that is all strength in the mind. Just because a man happens to be attracted to men, doesn’t mean that he’s not strong. If anything, taking crap from homophobic jerks proves that they’re stronger than the average person.

“If gay people play with us, what are other people going to think?” – Two words: WHO CARES! If everyone based all of their decisions of what people would be thinking of them, then no work or play would get done. Everyone would be too focused on other people’s thoughts rather than their own. The only thing that matters is what YOU think. If you have no issue with skating beside a gay man during practise or a game, then that’s all that matters. Be you, no matter anyone’s judgement.

In conclusion, the issues with homosexuality in the NHL are not really ‘issues.’ In fact, with the large amount of acceptance by both players in the National Hockey League and their fans, it’s a head scratcher as to why there are not many hockey players being open to the public about their sexual orientation in the NHL. However, I do encourage anyone who is in fact homosexual and not public with their sexual orientation to take their time when it comes to ‘coming out.’ I also have a few words to the people reading this long opinion piece:

To any gay men out there who do play, or want to play hockey or who are perhaps already in the NHL: Be public about who you are when you feel most comfortable. If you feel ready, then come out with a smile on your face. Don’t ever be afraid to be who you are and never let anyone tell you that you shouldn’t do something just because you’re attracted to the same sex. If I had done that a long time ago, I wouldn’t be sitting here and encouraging you to be proud of who you are.

To any men out there who do play, or want to play hockey or who are perhaps already in the NHL: Be kind to each other, love each other unconditionally, work together as a team and don’t judge others. Protect your team mates, stand up for what you believe is right, and never tell someone they can’t play a sport because they’re different than you.

Follow Jessica-Lyn on Twitter: @strucxtures