Homophobia takes a hit
Project seeks to help hockey people in LGBTQ community
Brock McGillis realized something right away when he tweeted earlier this week about creating a safe space for hockey people in the LGBTQ community.
It was a followup to a tweet he sent last year, when he received “thousands” of replies offering help and support from around the world.
“I had the same kind of response this week,” McGillis said. “I saw that there weren’t very many spaces for queer people within the sport (of hockey). I also felt that the way the sport is — nobody is out, nobody is comfortable in coming out, they’re all living in silence — and we need to have space for everyone. “
While hockey has reached out to the LGBTQ community with programs and awareness campaigns, McGillis is starting a project where players suffering from abuse and homophobia can speak with people, athletes or experts who have either studied or suffered the same abuse.
McGillis, a well-known influential advocate for the community and the first pro hockey player to come out as gay, states the project’s mission is to “build community, empower individuals and shift sports culture into a physically and emotionally safe environment for people of diverse gender and sexual identities.”
The working title for the not-forprofit organization is the Alphabet Sports Collective. It’s a reference, McGillis explained, to the “alphabet mob” — people who attack the LGBTQ community.
McGillis has more than 25 people on board, and he plans to release more details in about two weeks when the project is launched.
McGillis’s supporters include former Leaf player Kurtis Gabriel; Jessica Platt, the first trans woman to play pro hockey; homophobia academic Cheryl MacDonald; Aidan Cleary, from Team Trans Ice Hockey; Chanel Keenan, a diversity-inclusivity consultant for the Seattle Kraken; Bryan Mortensen, one of the founders who helped with the mission statement; and dozens from the media world who simply want to help.
“I think the space Brock is creating is so important for LGBTQ+ athletes because so many don’t feel like they have a place in sport,” Platt said.
“Through their experiences playing the game, many people have felt like they are excluded and have had to fight for their spot, or give it up entirely. I once felt that I had to pursue happiness in my life or keep playing hockey. Having to make that choice to give up the game I loved playing was extremely difficult.”
McGillis said the new space took shape from Hockey Pride, a project he started last summer to “celebrate the community and show how many of us there are … it wasn’t about abuse, but sharing why people love hockey and how the sport could be better for them.”
Several projects across the NHL, including the Leafs’ “Our House” scoreboard message, attempt to build community and hold people accountable for unacceptable behaviour.
One of the strongest initiatives in the NHL, the Diversity Alliance, works independently to spread its message of eradicating racism from the sport.
“Right now, I wouldn’t recommend any queer youth to play hockey, and that breaks my heart,” McGillis said.
“There’s so many NHL executives and players who have queer relatives and friends, but they don’t talk about it,” he added.
“We need them with us, and we need them to be at the table for us. We need to get to the point where people feel that all of hockey is an empowering space, that you feel good going to the rink.”
Right now, I wouldn’t recommend any queer youth to play hockey, and that breaks my heart.
BROCK MCGILLIS FIRST PRO HOCKEY PLAYER TO COME OUT AS GAY