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Gay nhl players 2024

Just over three years ago, I wrote a piece for The Hockey Writers that argued an inclusive NHL was waiting with open arms to welcome its first openly lgbtq+ player. So, in that time has one managed to crack an NHL lineup and has the NHL become more welcoming to gay players living out in the open?

Related: An Inclusive NHL Awaits its First Openly Homosexual Player

The answer to the first question is none and to the second it’s no. In proof, in the years since I wrote that article, it looks like the NHL has run for cover when confronted by the major social issues of the day. It’s as if the league decided that it can only lose by taking clear stands in today’s raging culture wars. Pleasing one side risks angering the other.

Luke Prokop – First Openly Gay Player Under NHL Contract

While an openly gay player has yet to earn a regular spot in an NHL lineup, Luke Prokop is the first to come out while under contract to an NHL team. The 6-foot-5, 220-pound right-shot defenceman signed an entry-level contract with the Nashville Predators in December 2020 and now skates with the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League (AHL). 

Upon coming out in July 2021, Prokop said

Luke Prokop Comes Out As Gay And Makes NHL History

Updated July 19, 2021 at 2:26 PM ET

Nashville Predators prospect Luke Prokop has appear out as gay, becoming the first active player under contract to an NHL team to complete so.

"It has been quite the journey to get to this gesture in my life, but I could not be happier with my choice to come out," Prokop, 19, said in an Instagram post.

"From a young age I own dreamed of being an NHL player, and I believe that living my authentic life will grant me to bring my whole self to the rink and improve my chances of fulfilling my dreams," he added.

High-level female hockey players, such as Olympic gold medalist Meghan Duggan, have previously come out as homosexual, according to the league. But until Prokop's announcement Monday, no other player signed to an NHL team — active or retired — had approach out in the history of the professional league.

Prokop's team and league officials congratulated him on social media, saying the defenseman was setting an example for others.

"The Nashville Predators organization is proud of Luke for the courage he is displaying in coming out today and we will support him unequivocally in the days

Hockey needs to become a sport everyone can undergo welcome in, and Nashville Predators prospect Luke Prokop doesn’t plan to permit anyone stand in his way of turning that goal into a reality.

Prokop, the first openly homosexual player under an NHL contract, has been a trailblazer in the hockey community and an significant role model to many across the sport. But while the 20-year-old has made several positive strides in making the game more inclusive, he is disappointed about the lack of progress at the highest level of competition.

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The 6-foot-6 defenseman expressed those feelings in a utterance Monday night, describing a recent trend of teams and players opting out of Pride festivities as "a step back for inclusion in the NHL."

"Pride nights and Pride jerseys play an important role in promoting and respecting inclusion for the LGBTQIA+ community and it's disheartening to see some teams no longer wearing them or embracing their significance, while the focus of others has become about the players who aren't participating rather than the meaning of the nighttime itself," Prokop wrote.

Prokop mutual these comments just days after San Jo

NHL, NHLPA and 32 clubs unite in celebration of Pride


NEW YORK/TORONTO (May 30, 2024) – The National Hockey League (NHL), National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA), and all 32 NHL Clubs unite in their celebration of the LGBTQ+ community ahead of June’s Pride Month.

This season, the NHL invested more than $75,000 to Queer organizations and hockey tournaments. Support included a donation to the Toronto Homosexual Hockey Association at the first-ever NHL All-Star Self-acceptance Cup presented by Scotiabank. Team Trans, which has more than 500 hockey players around the nature, received a donation for their annual Friendship Series tournament with the Madison Gay Hockey Association, as well as funding for the second annual All Trans Draft Tournament in partnership with Twin Cities Pride.

This past weekend, the NHL competed in the Chelsea Challenge for the fourth time. The annual Memorial Day tournament is hosted by the Modern York City Gay Hockey Association and welcomes LGBTQ players and LGBTQ allies from across the U.S., Canada, and Europe.

The NHL, along with other sports leagues, is a supporting partner of the Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center. The first L

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gay nhl players 2024