New York magazine interviews gay sport pioneer Jeff Kagan, director of NYC Gay Hockey Association

From New York magazine:

Jeff Kagan, Director of the New York City Gay Hockey Association, on Sean Avery and the Culture of the Sport

Sean Avery recently spoke out in favor of same-sex marriage, recording this video for New Yorkers for Marriage Equality. (It's believed that Avery is the first New York athlete to publicly support same-sex marriage.) In the days that followed, Avery's endorsement remained in the news, first because of an NHL agent, Todd Reynolds, who stated his opposition to it, and later because of the response to Reynolds's comments. The Sports Section spoke with Jeff Kagan, the director and co-founder of the New York City Gay Hockey Association, about Avery, Brian Burke, and culture of the sport.

What was your initial reaction when you saw the Sean Avery video?
I was blown away. I really was so excited to see that one of the New York Rangers was actually standing up for a cause that no one's ever stood up for in professional sports, as far as I know. [Ed. Note: at least one other athlete has, in a different state.] And I just think it's so important, because all the Rangers are role models and to have one of them stand up and fight for something that is just such an important thing for civil rights, I think that it's a wonderful thing that he's doing.

Do you think it matters that it's Sean Avery, someone who's pretty popular in New York, but is not particularly well liked by a lot of other teams' fans? Or does something like this transcend hockey?
I think it transcends hockey, and I think it's important that he's a well-known Ranger. It's better that it's him, and not somebody that no one's ever heard of. I think celebrity does add a lot of clout to an issue, and when a celebrity speaks up for something, people listen. I'm not sure why sometimes, but they do. So I think that it was good that it was Sean Avery. I mean, he's not really liked in some parts of the country; in some places in New York he's not very well liked. But it's still important that he's speaking out for something that's important to other people.

Do you think the culture of hockey is any more or less homophobic compared to other professional team sports?
It's hard to say. There's a lot of homophobia in all professional sports, which is why you don't see any of the professional athletes come out when they're still playing. I think they're the ones that see it more than we do, and that's probably what limits them from saying anything until they retire and they feel safer about doing it. I don't know that hockey has more of it, though I do know that hockey is probably one of the tougher sports. I mean, hockey and football are the two big impact sports. I think that's a big part of it, the physical stuff.

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