His name is Luke Prokop. He is 19-years old.
He has spend the last four years playing as a defenceman for the Calgary Hitmen of the Western Hockey League.
He is under contract with the NHL's Nashville Predators.
And he has just made NHL history.
It shouldn't be such a big deal. He shouldn't have had to be the first one. He shouldn't have had to be so brave.
Nashville Predators prospect Luke Prokop has come out as gay, becoming the first active player under contract to an NHL team to do so.
Until Prokop's announcement Monday, no other player signed to an NHL team — active or retired— had come out in the history of the professional league.
But he is the first one, it is a big deal, and he does have to be brave, because according to a new study the Canadian sporting scene reeks of homophobia.
The study found that about 48 per cent of Canadian youth who come out to teammates reported being the target of homophobic behaviour, including bullying, assaults and slurs — and it was more prevalent among Canadian youth than Americans (45 per cent).
"Canadian sport has three official languages: French, English and homophobic language."
It's a sickening situation, made worse by the murderous indifference of so many Canadians.
Which helps explain why the Cons have been allowed to get away with opposing a ban on so-called conversion therapy...
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I will never understand the religious bestiality of those SoCons, who would condemn people for who they are, or who they love.
But it's not just them. Homophobia is a disease you can find anywhere in Canada, even at a site like Progressive Bloggers.
For I will never forget the day the Canadian actress Ellen Page came out at a conference to help bullied gay youth.
“I suffered for years because I was scared to be out. My spirit suffered, my mental health suffered and my relationships suffered. And I’m standing here today, with all of you, on the other side of all that pain.”
It was a moving moment, and the blogger at Politics And Its Discontents wrote a post about it, only to have his bosom buddy The Disaffected Lib jump up and down in a foamy rage.
Suggesting that Page's coming out was an "ostentatious display of sexuality." Demanding that the media should have ignored it. And that gay people who were silenced for so long, should be silenced again.
I was disgusted. I'd never seen anything so diseased coming from someone who claimed he was a "progressive."
But it did help me understand why he is such a toxic Trudeau hater...
That grotesque excerpt from his blog did help explain his creepy obsession with Trudeau...
As well as his weird pining for the Harper regime.
Can you believe that? Trudeau is Harper? Isn't that pathetic? And those two senile clowns call themselves progressives?
But then to be fair, so many toxic Trudeau haters are even crazier than they are...
Wandering around with their ARREST TRUDEAU signs.
Or picketing LGBT events so they can get close to the people they hate/love so much.
Shudder.
But the good news is that the anti-gay bigots are losing their ugly holy war, and are well on their way to the place where they belong.
In the garbage can of history.🐁A bucket of rats can be filled in one night.
— Lyndex (@Lyndex_23) May 4, 2021
Get yours👉https://t.co/pcYHTrqrbA pic.twitter.com/OzPsOAcDWp
Laying his life on the line. Refusing to shut up.
Inspiring gay kids everywhere.
And helping to lead us all to a much better place...
FYI: their name is now Elliott Page, as they came out as FtM transgender last year. Good on Prokop for being the latest to fight against bullying in sports, like Naomi Osaka is battling mental health stigma in the Olympics and tennis, and throughout athletic competition. As horrific as the racism was against the Black players on the England soccer team, it was encouraging to see a more forceful backlash against it. A player just came out as gay in the NFL too, which is incredibly difficult to do. I hope he doesn't get Kaepernick'ed because of it. Slowly but surely, we're getting there.
ReplyDeleteI'm also especially glad to find Carey Price speaking up to call on Canada to commit more fully to Reconciliation. I hope he doesn't depart the Habs for the ridiculously-named Seattle Kraken. But apparently he got along well with Subban, and that there was racism among the fan base which prompted him to leave too? That sucks 😒
As the old saying goes, change is gonna come. Anyone who says sports isn't and shouldn't be political either hasn't been paying attention, or (more likely) prefers people of marginalized identities to just "shut up and dribble" (hit/throw a ball, shoot a puck) as Pox News and their inbred northern cousins in the CPC would have it. And apparently some deranged "brogressives" who are no better than Cons.
Now that Pride has come to that most Canadian sport on the ice, Cons voting to uphold anti-LGBT bigotry makes them more anti-Canadian than ever. Same with that RWNJ hate preacher and some trash website that harassed Janis Irwin, with their "free speech" that Cons are so quick to defend. I hope moths eat their blue sweaters while they're wearing them, and that every bigot regardless of self-declared political stripe gets tossed like a moth-eaten hockey sweater into the dustbin of history.
Thanks, Jackie, for beating me to the punch on Elliot Page. Life is about to get a lot harder for them, but tons and tons of strength.
ReplyDeleteSimon, since we are on topic, I would like to congrats my dear friends A. and N. on their recent wedding in Ohio. They have been together for 10 years, but it has not been without discrimination even in Smalltown U.S.A.. A. could not go to her prom with a girlfriend, and that was in the 90s...not so long ago.
And today, even here in Canada, mainstream media pounds the drum of transphobia and even misogyny and homophobia.
Which is why it is imperative that the CPC and those espousing these views be sent to the dustbin of history, FOREVER.
YOU'RE HERE, YOU'RE QUEER, GET USED TO THEM, EVERYONE!
The person known at the time as Ellen Page came out as a lesbian, but is now Elliot Page, a heterosexual male. How is this not conversion therapy? Not trolling here, this is an honest question. Does anybody know?
ReplyDeleteHi Jackie….I suppose LGBT people are making some progress in the sports world, but it’s way to slow for me. Gay people have been far too patient for too long, and the Cons holding up the banning of conversion “therapy” which is nothing less than the torture of gay kids is for me the final straw. Hate crimes against LGBT people have been rising during the pandemic. Most of the hatred aimed at Justin Trudeau is based on misogyny and homophobia, and as far as I’m concerned enough is enough…
ReplyDeleteHi Pierre…Thank you for your support. It’s not easy standing up for the eights of LGBT Canadians. Not only do you have to deal with the vile homophobes, you also have to deal with the indifference of many Canadians, including some so-called “progressives.” And of course, as you point out, our Con media pounds the drum of misogyny, transphobia, and homophobia, and has failed to even draw attention to the large numbers of SoCons in O’Toole’s bigot party. But I will not be intimidated by them or anyone else,. Finally, thank you for sharing the story of your two friends who just got married in Ohio. And thank you for reminding me that Ellen is now Elliott. I knew it, but just forgot to mention it, which is just as well for the Disaffected Lib would probably have a stroke….😉
ReplyDeleteHi anon@1:42 PM…Elliot Page is not a heterosexual male, he is a transsexual and still a member of the LGBT family. Conversion therapy is the attempt to change gay people and transsexuals into heterosexuals against their will, which amounts to torture and is an abomination. Now that you know, please share that truth, and help make Canada a better place…🌻
ReplyDeleteI know I am going against the grain of this blog. I do not care what you are. I think every human deserves human rights equal to all others. So in Canada we have those rights, so lets stop the problem, lets stop making straight people feel guilty. The very few people who have genes that leave them in mystery need support for sure, but its not an issue anymore.
ReplyDeleteHi Steve...I'm sorry you feel that way. But I'm not sorry for standing up for LGBT Canadians and denouncing anti-gay bigots. For there are many in this country. Educate yourself. Read the latest StatsCan reports on anti-gay hate crimes. Gay Canadians are regularly on or near the top of the list of targets, and the assaults against them are almost always, the most violent. Until you have educated yourself, please stay away. They're enough anti-gay kooks out there, and I don't need anymore...
ReplyDeleteSIMON its your manifest to stand up for marginalized people. Its not mine, and its not part of my life. I have had openly Gay bosses, and lifetime friends who came out and for me its nothing.
ReplyDeleteThere should be no bullying in our world, but it exists no matter what your sexual or racial orientation. It is my belief this is impossible to stamp out.
Speaking of bullying. Why hasn't anyone dared to address the toxic misogyny of the (federal) NDP? Someone tell me how this is any different from when UCP stalwarts burned signs of Rachel Notley or drillbillies sprayed the C word on Catherine McKenna's office, albeit on a smaller scale? The same violent sentiment is there, this dude is slashing Freeland's face in effigy. And this is a comms director campaigning for the NDP EDA in her riding?
ReplyDeletehttps://i.postimg.cc/6TsMSJ4s/freeland-aggression-toxic-brocialist-tweet.jpg
NDPers are jealous of and vindictive against Trudeau because he won soundly in 2015. They lie about him all day and make promises they can't keep, but I don't think there's any openly pushing violence against him like Cons do. But hardcore Dippers HAAAATE Freeland with the same intensity as Bernie bros do and did Hillary and Harris. They accuse her of having Nazi ties. They know who's their next threat in #elxn46 once Trudeau decides he's had enough abuse.
I will take no lessons from anyone who claims NDP to be a progressive party or calls Liberals toxic. I look at LPC official twitter and all I see is positivity. I look at NDP twitter and it's all rage. If LPC supporters push back it's because of shit like this. No wonder NDP didn't give a damn if Harper got rid of the childcare agreement. No wonder Charlie was so acidic in his remarks about Margaret Trudeau. But they'll moan all day about PMJT's treatment of "strong women". Vulgar gaslighting goons. MAGA hatters in fedoras and Che berets.