Soccer added to Sin City Shootout

We just added Soccer for the 2013 Sin City Shootout Sports Festival!

This brings the total to 8 different LGBT sports taking place.

The West Hollywood Soccer Club will be the sports coordinator for soccer.

Check back September 1st to register and get all the information on your sport.

www.sincityshootout.com/

Sean Avery joins Athlete Ally board

News from Athlete Ally:

Athlete Ally, a non-profit organization dedicated to challenging homophobia in sports, is pleased to announce that Sean Avery has joined the board of directors. Avery, a former NHL player and New York Ranger, will help further the mission of Athlete Ally by encouraging more straight athletes to start speaking out against homophobia in athletics.

“With few athletes feeling comfortable or safe enough to come out, a professional athlete ally like Sean Avery can make all the difference,” said Hudson Taylor, Athlete Ally Founder and Executive Director. “We look forward to working with Sean to make sport a space for everyone and empowering athletes everywhere to start using their voice as athlete allies.”


Keep reading HERE.

UCLA figure skaters and ice hockey players say "You Can Play"

UCLA ice hockey players and figure skaters join together in support of the You Can Play project, in the fight for respect in sports. Watch their You Can Play video below.

You Can Play infographic of NHL participants

The website "Sixteen Wins" has made an infographic showing stats on NHL players involved in the You Can Play project.


Visit the You Can Play website HERE.

University of Connecticut ice hockey team leaders issue the You Can Play captains' challenge

The captains of the University of Connecticut men's ice hockey team issue a challenge to other captains in this You Can Play video.

NHL players Jordan Eberle and Brian Elliott say "You Can Play"

From You Can Play:

NHL All-Stars Jordan Eberle of the Edmonton Oilers and Brian Elliott of the St. Louis Blues team up for respect for all athletes and fans - regardless of sexual orientation.

Oilers forward Eberle, a native of Regina, Saskatchewan, just finished his second season in the NHL with 76 points - his personal best.

Blues goalie Elliott, a native of Newmarket, Ontario, had a career-best season leading the NHL in save percentage and goals against average. Both Eberle and Elliott made their all-star debut at the 2012 NHL All-Star Game in Ottawa where their You Can Play messages were filmed.

These two deliver the simple but meaningful message, “If you can play, you can play.”

---

A look at the You Can Play project

"The Hockey Writers" website presents the You Can Play project:

For an athlete, sport is a passion. An escape. A chance to be who they really are for a portion of the day. So if an athlete can’t be all of these things in their natural environment, what’s the point? The makeup of the athlete shouldn’t matter. If they can play, then they can play.
Founded last fall, the You Can Play Project aims to showcase and celebrate athletes for who they truly are, including putting an end to homophobia in sports.

“For too long, athletes have been judged on things in addition to talent, skill, work ethic, and that includes sexual orientation,” said Brian Kitts, co-founder of the project. “You Can Play is really interested in promoting athletes as pure athletes; stripping things down to the basics of your work ethic, your talent, your skill, and whether you can help your team succeed.”

Kitts, along with Glenn Witman and Patrick Burke, developed You Can Play after meeting at an event in Denver. Witman, founder and president of G-Force Sports, an organization that aims to give a voice to the invisible LGBT athlete, and Burke, a scout for the Philadelphia Flyers and full-time student, collaborated with Kitts on a cause that is hugely important to all parties.

Keep reading HERE.

N-word? F-word? All of the above? For those who forget that hate does not discriminate...

An overtime goal by black hockey player Joel Ward knocked the Boston Bruins out of the playoffs and propelled the Washington Capitals into the next round. Twitter did not handle this well.Buzzfeed shares some of the tweets (see all HERE).

Hockey's new battle against homophobia

The Atlantic reviews that status of homophobia and the fight against homophobia in ice hockey, including the actions of people like Sean Avery, Patrick and Brian Burke, and Jeff Kagan: 
When Adam Knoerzer and his partner were in Los Angeles to see the Pittsburgh Penguins play the L.A. Kings, last November, they found themselves sandwiched between two, seemingly incongruous parts of hockey culture. To their left was a lesbian couple, supporting the Kings. To their right was a father-and-son duo cheering for Knoerzer's Penguins, all the while talking about "what a fag the PA announcer was," Knoerzer recalls. For Knoerzer, a self-described beer-drinking, TV-screaming, show tune-hating, hockey guy who came out a decade ago, it remains a jarring, telling experience.

"It was so bizarre being in between lesbians on my left and a father and son on the right, who are unabashedly trashing this guy because they think he's a gay and a queen," Knoerzer, 27, says. "When the Penguins scored, [the father] would give us high fives. I kept thinking, 'Would you give us a high five if I told you that this is the man I love?'"

This experience highlights the tensions that still exist among hockey fans when it comes to homosexuality. It has been a little more than a year since Sean Avery, the lightning-rod of an NHL player and gay marriage advocate, spoke out in support of gay teammates in hockey. Avery's endorsement was just one of several recent milestones in the discussion concerning the sometimes complicated relationship between players, coaches, and fans of hockey and the gay community.

"We've created an atmosphere where players can come out in support of LGBT issues," says Brian Silva, interim executive director of Marriage Equality New York. "But we're still not at the point where anyone from the LGBT community feels comfortable playing."

Keep reading HERE.

5 May 2012 ./ Celebrate Chicago Gay Hockey Association's 10th anniversary

A message from Team Chicago member Chicago Gay Hockey Association:

The CGHA would like to invite everyone to a very special 10 year anniversary fundraising event!

WHAT: PUCK-er Up - Cinco de Drinko

PUCK-er is a fundraising event for the Chicago Gay Hockey Association (CGHA) as well as a way for our fans to come hang out with the team and watch us play. We will meet at Crew to eat, drink and hang out. All the fans and players will then board a bus to our game downtown. The bus will have free 312 and . After the game the bus will drop off at Sofo Tap for a continued night of debauchery!

WHEN: Saturday, May 5th

3:00pm - 5:00pm - Meet at Crew to eat, drink and hangout with the team.
5:00pm - The bus departs to head to Johnny's Ice House West downtown.
6:20pm - 8:20pm - Cheer on the Chicago Gay Hockey Association as they face off, CGHA vs. CGHA. We'll also have other events including a raffle and fan events!
9:30pm - 11:00pm - Spend more time with the team at The Sofo Tap!

COST: PUCK-er Up is a fundraising event for the Chicago Gay Hockey Association, your payment will secure you a seat on the bus. Send a $20 payment to info@chicagogayhockey.org via PayPal. The cost is ONLY TO RIDE THE BUS.

WHAT YOU GET: 2 drink tickets for Crew, free beer on the bus and 2 drink tickets for The Sofo Tap.

Crew (pre-party):
4804 N. Broadway

The Sofo Tap (post-party):
4923 N. Clark St.

Johnny's Ice House West (game location):
6:20 - 8:20 Ice Time
2550 W. Madison Ave.

LA Blades gay hockey club says "You Can Play"

The Los Angeles Blades gay ice hockey club have made this "You Can Play" video.


Visit the You Can Play website HERE.

Patrick Burke interview on You Can Play and more

An interview in The Hockey News with Patrick Burke on You Can Play and the coming out NHL player:

For less than a year, Philadelphia Flyers scout Patrick Burke, son of Leafs GM Brian Burke and brother of the late Brendan Burke, has been working with professional hockey players on the You Can Play Project, founded in Brendan’s memory and tasked to ensure equality, respect and safety for all athletes, without regard to sexual orientation. Yet he’s already convinced the hockey world will have its first openly gay professional player in the very near future.

“Within the next two years, I predict we’ll have an openly gay National Hockey League player,” Patrick Burke said. “That is my personal belief and numerous people, including people within the charity, disagree with me completely. It’s my opinion only, but I think I’m right.

Keep reading HERE.

Playing ice hockey in two leagues, in and out of the closet

In Xtra, a gay ice hockey player tells his story of being closeted in his mainstream league and discovering gay hockey:

I play on two hockey teams. Members on one team know I’m gay. Members on the other do not.

The players on the straight team are of high calibre. I count some of them amongst my closest friends. None has ever given me the impression they would reject me if they found out I am gay. And yet I cannot be sure of that unless I tell them.

Before and after each of our games, I sit in the locker room listening to their stories — stories of partners and children and women they are dating. I don’t contribute to these stories. I don’t feel secure doing so.

As I have felt a distance growing between these teammates and myself, I thought it might be easier to walk away from them, and the team entirely, rather than risk rejection.

But I love hockey. So before giving it up for good, last fall I decided to check out Ottawa’s gay hockey club to see if it could replace what I felt was missing on the straight team. This wasn’t an easy step.

Even as a gay man I had reservations about walking into a gay locker room. I felt anxiety, perhaps even fear, of what I would find on the other side of the door. I asked a friend whether that trepidation was rooted in homophobia. He countered, suggesting I hadn’t been fearful of homosexuals, rather I had been fearful of a possible truth: that what I thought could happen in a gay locker room actually did and that the negative stigma toward homosexuals in sport was well-founded and would thus be directed at me. Guilty by association.

So let me tell you what I found on the other side of that locker-room door. There were no Speedos or pink boas. Nor were there towels being slapped at exposed body parts. Instead there was just a group of guys lacing skates, taping hockey sticks and telling stories. Fun stories and serious stories — of partners, children and men they were dating. The same stuff straight locker rooms are made of. Game on.

Keep reading HERE.

Impact of You Can Play

"You Can Play" is a new campaign to fight homophobia in hockey. It's an initiative welcomed by players such as Dave Bossmin (you will recall his editorial we reported on HERE) of the Ottawa-Gatineau Gay Hockey Association. A CJTV News feature interview for Centretown News by Jason Chen, Nic Pollock and Robert Snow.

Boston NHL player on playing with a gay teammate

 

In an exclusive interview with Boston Spirit, Shawn Thornton of the Boston Bruins  tells what it might be like if one of his fellow hockey players came out:

By David Zimmerman

Shawn Thornton loves Boston. Boston loves Shawn Thornton.

That has been the case since the day Thornton arrived in town to play for our Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins.

Thornton, 34, is a bruising six-foot-two-inch, 217-pound, left winger for the Bruins who throws punches as hard as his slap shot. In fact, more than a few unfortunate opponents would argue that the punches are actually much harder. He is known as the team’s ‘enforcer,’ the player assigned to protect his teammates and often fights to do so.

You wouldn’t necessarily think that Thornton, the enforcer from a “blue collar, industrial town about 20 minutes outside of Toronto” would be first in line for a sit-down with an LGBT publication like Boston Spirit. You would be wrong. Thornton met with Boston Spirit recently for an exclusive one-on-one interview.

Boston Spirit: What do you think would happen if one of your teammates announced he was gay?

Shawn Thornton: Honestly, my teammates are like family so there would be support. I would personally [support] him and I’m pretty sure everyone in our locker room would. We’ve got a pretty good bunch of guys. I don’t think there would be any issues.

Keep reading HERE.

Tommy Wingels makes "You Can Play" video

Chicago Gay Hockey Association featured on Gay Chicago TV

The Chicago Gay Hockey Association was first organization profiled on "Score", the sports show on Gay Chicago TV. Watch online HERE.

A great coming out story from a young athlete

A great story about a brave young athlete in the Ottawa Citizen. Please read the entire story!

OTTAWA — Scott Heggart was a big, strapping teenager, who topped out at six foot four. He played football, basketball, softball and hockey.

And he had a secret.

It was hard enough to share it with his mom and dad.

But as a young athlete, steeped in the machismo of sport, where “about the worst thing” is to be a “fag” or a “homo,” there was one conversation that was even harder.

Telling his teammates he was gay.

Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke and his son, Patrick, a scout for the Philadelphia Flyers, have just launched the You Can Play Project to tackle the “casual homophobia” of professional hockey, where there is still no openly gay athlete. The initiative is in honour of Brendan Burke, their son and brother, who came out shortly before he was killed in a car accident in 2010.

Public-service announcements, with 36 NHL players so far signing on, deliver a simple, powerful message that an athlete’s sexual orientation does not matter. “If you can play, you can play” is a seven-word mantra taken from a piece written by Brendan.

The campaign is a small sign of change in the elite level of sport. One day this attitude may trickle down to places like the locker-rooms of the Lanark-Carleton Minor Hockey League, where Scott Heggart risked ostracization and ridicule to do what few athletes before him, professional or amateur, dared to.

His truth telling didn’t play out as he’d expected.

Keep reading HERE.

First "You Can Play" video with Bruins and Sabres captains

Boston Bruins captain Zdeno Chara and Buffalo Sabres captain Jason Pominville speak up for the You Can Play Project, promoting respect for all athletes. Filmed during the 2012 NHL All-Star Game in Ottawa.

Slovakian Chara is the tallest NHL player ever, at 6'9", speaks seven languages and has climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro. Pominville is a native of Repentigny, Quebec and has dual American-Canadian citizenship, and is a Lady Byng Memorial Trophy nominee (most gentlemanly player).

18 March 2012 / Blades Against AIDS in Madison

Madison Gay Hockey Association's 4th Blades Against AIDS
Sunday, March 18, 2012 from 1:00pm until 3:00pm

This open skate fundraiser, sponsored by Kraft Oscar Mayer and the CUNA Mutual Foundation, will help to raise awareness around how HIV disproportionately affects the LGBTQ community. All proceeds benefit AIDS Network.