Who will be the first NHLer to come out of the closet.

[xbleed83bluex]

It's inevitable. But who? I've always suspected David Perron of being gay since day one. Crosby and Datsyuk are good contenders, too.

[not_a_wings_fan]

There are lots of rumors out there.

Avery

Claude Giroux

Of course The Onion nails it as usual.

I don't have a guess other than to say I am pretty sure there is at least one player in the league.

[ViPeRx007]

I guess I'm sort of sick of this stuff. It would be nice to get to a point where there was no such thing as a closet. You don't hear people announcing that they're straight. I really don't care if there's a gay player. In all, 100% honesty, that's wonderful for them, but the sooner all of this sexual orientation stuff stops being a headline every time someone opens their mouth about it, the better. There will never be the real change that community seems to want until it stops being a spectacle.

I don't know. Maybe they enjoy the publicity. It's sort of a way to become an instant celebrity these days. So what is their angle, exactly?

I don't really get it.

[STLADOGG]

Pretty much all of the Detroit Lineup, that's any given year(besides Hull).

[JesusNEVERexisted]

Paarjarvi

[dmiles2186]

I guess I'm sort of sick of this stuff. It would be nice to get to a point where there was no such thing as a closet. You don't hear people announcing that they're straight. I really don't care if there's a gay player. In all, 100% honesty, that's wonderful for them, but the sooner all of this sexual orientation stuff stops being a headline every time someone opens their mouth about it, the better. There will never be the real change that community seems to want until it stops being a spectacle.

I don't know. Maybe they enjoy the publicity. It's sort of a way to become an instant celebrity these days. So what is their angle, exactly?

I don't really get it.

That's the thing, I think once every sports has at least one person that's come out, there will be a newsmaking element to each one. Next time an NBA or NFL'er comes out, it won't be as big a deal because Jason Collins and Michael Sam came before them. The reason, I think, most of them go the route of making an announcement is because if they don't, eventually someone else will out them. So instead of that happening, they're doing it on their own terms, and I respect them for that. Our society seems hung up on finding out who is and there are people who make a living off of trying to find this stuff out. It's invasive. That leads to people in the public eye having to do this or else someone goes the other route and puts their personal life in the news without the subject's permission.

But really, each time someone comes out, the less people care, the less newsworthy it is, until eventually we hear nothing about it. (I.E. Michael Sam. He's never in the news these days)

[ComradeT]

Wait, guys, hasn't Eric Johnson already come out?

[cardsfan04]

I guess I'm sort of sick of this stuff. It would be nice to get to a point where there was no such thing as a closet. You don't hear people announcing that they're straight. I really don't care if there's a gay player. In all, 100% honesty, that's wonderful for them, but the sooner all of this sexual orientation stuff stops being a headline every time someone opens their mouth about it, the better. There will never be the real change that community seems to want until it stops being a spectacle.

I don't know. Maybe they enjoy the publicity. It's sort of a way to become an instant celebrity these days. So what is their angle, exactly?

I don't really get it.

That's the thing, I think once every sports has at least one person that's come out, there will be a newsmaking element to each one. Next time an NBA or NFL'er comes out, it won't be as big a deal because Jason Collins and Michael Sam came before them. The reason, I think, most of them go the route of making an announcement is because if they don't, eventually someone else will out them. So instead of that happening, they're doing it on their own terms, and I respect them for that. Our society seems hung up on finding out who is and there are people who make a living off of trying to find this stuff out. It's invasive. That leads to people in the public eye having to do this or else someone goes the other route and puts their personal life in the news without the subject's permission.

But really, each time someone comes out, the less people care, the less newsworthy it is, until eventually we hear nothing about it. (I.E. Michael Sam. He's never in the news these days)

Agree with all of this. But, to add to it, people don't come out as being straight, because there's not a stigma about being straight. There is (thankfully to a lessening degree as time passes) a stigma about being gay. It will be nice when the day comes that it's not noteworthy when somebody comes out of the closet. It shouldn't be noteworthy. But, we're not even at the point yet where it's legal to marry if you're gay (at least not in all states). Those kind of laws don't exist for straight people. Until we have completely turned the page on all of this, I understand why it's noteworthy.

[gaijin]

I'm sorry, the correct answer is:

Who gives a shit?

[glen a richter]

As long as "coming out of the closet" is offensive to Americans, it'll always be a big deal because the very act is opening oneself to ridicule from a largely unaccepting society. As the winds have changed and more people abide by the live and let live philosophy, it becomes less and less of a thing to the point where no one will truly give a flying eff, including the gay person themself.

I never understood the buckets of hate, myself. If they're not robbing me, killing me or in any way hurting me or my family then who am I to tell them how to live their lives?

That said, David Perron for sure.

[JesusNEVERexisted]

I wonder if gay players need to catch themselves thinking "DAMN, there are some fine pieces of ass in this locker room!".

[glen a richter]

I wonder if gay players need to catch themselves thinking "DAMN, there are some fine pieces of ass in this locker room!".

Curt, this nonsense has gone on long enough. There's really no valid explanation why this toolbag hasn't been banned yet.

[not_a_wings_fan]

As long as "coming out of the closet" is offensive to Americans, it'll always be a big deal because the very act is opening oneself to ridicule from a largely unaccepting society. As the winds have changed and more people abide by the live and let live philosophy, it becomes less and less of a thing to the point where no one will truly give a flying eff, including the gay person themself.

I never understood the buckets of hate, myself. If they're not robbing me, killing me or in any way hurting me or my family then who am I to tell them how to live their lives?

That said, David Perron for sure.

Wasn't there concern on this board that Perron's "Elite Dangle" might be an issue in the room when he first came up?



I agree though, it's an issue because it's still an issue.

I could care less who they sleep with if they can play well enough to earn their spot on the team.

[cprice12]

I guess I'm sort of sick of this stuff. It would be nice to get to a point where there was no such thing as a closet. You don't hear people announcing that they're straight. I really don't care if there's a gay player. In all, 100% honesty, that's wonderful for them, but the sooner all of this sexual orientation stuff stops being a headline every time someone opens their mouth about it, the better. There will never be the real change that community seems to want until it stops being a spectacle..

Bingo.
It's like in any sport when they say that so and so is the first black player to accomplish whatever.

That's the kind of thing that keeps a divide between races. A ridiculous racial hierarchy is hammered down our throats. It's unintentional (I assume), but the media just doesn't think before they open their mouths. I mean, they are basically saying that a bunch of white people or straight people have accomplished that feat before, but he's the first "black guy" or "gay guy", so hey, yay for the blacks and gays!!

How about saying yay for so and so, without mention of his race or sexual preference? I fail to see why race or sexual preference should be mentioned when discussing an accomplishment.
Who cares what race they are? Who cares what their sexual preference is? Why and how does that matter in the slightest? It's no different than my Grandma telling me a story and for no specific reason, feeling the need to point out that the guy in the story is black, when it has absolutely nothing to do with the story whatsoever. It's subtle racism. Period. She's not trying to be mean, or racist, but it's just a state of mind that some people need to learn to suppress.

The media thinks they are being supportive and pro-equality or whatever, but they are actually doing the exact opposite by defining blacks or gays (or whoever they are talking about) as "different". They drastically slow down progressive thinking when they do that crap...and it happens over and over again every year.

When a white athlete accomplishes something no other white athlete has done, do they point out he's the first white athlete to do it? Nope. That has never happened.
Why?
Because people are stupid.

[glen a richter]

You're not the first white person to point that out.