LGBTQ+ inclusive hockey leagues play on amid challenges and fresh interest due to 'Heated Rivalry'
SEATTLE (AP) — Steven Thompson began playing hockey in 2017, but it wasn’t until he met Joey Gale that he truly felt seen in his new sport. Thompson said he had a few teammates who are part of the LGBTQ+ community on previous teams but one day he ran into Gale, who had doctored up his stick with Pride tape. .
“That was the first time I had seen that in the wild, if you will,” Thompson said. “And so I immediately ran up to him and identified myself as a gay player and just wanted to reach out and just wanted to offer myself as a connection. ” In 2019, Thompson and Gale co-founded the Seattle Pride Hockey Association to bring hockey closer to underrepresented communities.
It is one of more than a dozen leagues across the country that have long provided places for adults and youths in the LGBTQ+ community to play. Some organizations have grown despite new challenges. Mike Marisco, who also played for New York City Pride Hockey Alliance, started Pittsburgh LGBTQ+ Hockey when he moved back to the Steel City with his husband in the early 2010s.
When the team started 14 years ago, it featured eight or nine players. Now? There are multiple squads, and Pittsburgh LGBTQ+ Hockey hopes to add a third team soon in addition to offering clinics and ice time.
The support of the Pittsburgh Penguins and former president of hockey operations Brian Burke was pivotal. Burke has long worked to eliminate homophobia in sport following the death of his gay son Brendan in a car accident in 2010. “(Burke) was great for LGTBQ stuff, and when he came to the Penguins, they already had a little bit of momentum,” Marisco said.
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