Archi sent me this last night. Its an article written by Patrick Burke, Brendan’s brother. Brendan died in a car wreck in February. But the reason to know his name is he was openly gay in the hockey world. His family continues to remind people of the love Brendan was filled with.
Read the whole thing. Its really beautiful and heartfelt. An excerpt:
It will take men of courage, gay and straight, to break this cycle. The hockey establishment must do a better job of establishing a safe haven for gay athletes. We need to work on ending the use of homophobic slurs as an insult (most recently seen in the embarrassing pictures taken of Chicago Blackhawk Pat Kane and a “Pronger is Gay” slogan; Kane just a few months ago wore a dogtag reading “In Honor of Brendan Burke” with the rest of his Olympic hockey teammates). We need to ensure that locker rooms are a place for bonding, not division. For far too many people, coming out means choosing between things that they love: sports, jobs, friends, family members, and in some awful cases, safety. The hockey world needs to make it clear that gay athletes do not need to choose between living their lives honestly and playing the game that they love.
Thanks for posting that. I have nothing to add. Just thanks:)
By: petshark on June 23, 2010
at 10:27 am