(Fun Fact: This might be the only video of Kesler on the internet that doesn’t end with him celebrating and mocking Nashville fans)
If you’ve ever played hockey, you will know that there are certain things that are absolute. You will always avoid looking your goalie in the eyes if you screw up badly on a play. You will always describe goals you scored the night before far better than they actually happened. “Oh yeah. Top corner. Off the post and in. They don’t call me Money Hands Mahoney for nothing.” And you will always trash talk the crap out of your opponent. This is just a part of playing hockey, and it’s hard to see that ever changing. Except Patrick Burke (son of ex-Canucks GM Brian Burke, and current scout for the Philadelphia Flyers) is trying to do just that, by taking a stand and trying to alter the way people approach the trash talking part of hockey. Patrick, President of the You Can Play organisation, is trying to spread the message of understanding the impact the words you use can have on people.
“The You Can Play project is something that we founded for what we call “casual homophobia” in sports. That is the all too common use of homophobic slurs by athletes. And we call it “casual homophobia” because generally we believe that athletes don’t actually mean it to be homophobic. So if a guy is saying ‘that’s so gay’, what he means is ‘that’s so uncool.’ We’re trying to let athletes and fans and coaches know that when you use those words it intimidates gay athletes and it makes them think you won’t support them. And we’re trying to end that so gay athletes can play sports without fear, without feeling like they’re outsiders.”
Patrick Burke isn’t trying to condemn people for making mistakes, he is merely trying to make more people aware of them so they can try and change their verbal habits. After all, Patrick counts himself among people who have used slurs in the past. “I was the athlete using those words. I grew up saying those things and I’m not proud of it, but it’s part of the culture. It’s something you say. If a guy gets beat in a fight, you know, you call him a ‘fag’. It’s something where I really don’t believe it’s malicious on the part of athletes, I really truly don’t. And I really think as long as we educate athletes that ‘Hey, it’s hurtful, it’s scary, you know it’s beyond just a hurt feeling.’ It’s sitting in a locker room looking at your team mates thinking ‘they won’t support me, they won’t let me be here.’ And that’s scary for athletes, so I empathize in a sense with the athletes who are using all those terms, but now that we’re letting them know, we really hope that the education will turn this around.”
By education, Patrick means teaming up with stars of the NHL to release public service announcements (PSA) via video, to release one simple statement. “If you can play, you can play.” The idea being that if you can play hockey it doesn’t matter what your sexual orientation is, all that matters is that you can play hockey. It is with this simple message that Patrick hopes to open the eyes of people around the world. Ryan Kesler, Tanner Glass, Zdeno Chara, Shea Weber, and countless other NHL players have all taken up the cause of You Can Play and given an unprecedented amount of support from a professional sports league trying to stop homophobia.
“We approached Ryan.” explained Patrick. “We e-mailed the general managers of every NHL team asking for players to participate. Usually we would request a specific player, but we always told the GM if you think there’s a better fit please let us know. We asked for Ryan because we’ve had a relationship with him since my father drafted him . We go a long way back with him from the Canucks, to the U.S. Olympic team and everything like that. We have a great deal respect for Ryan and the way he plays the game, to the way he carries himself on and off the ice, he’s just a warrior out there and a great role model for younger athletes, both gay and straight.” This leads to an obvious question for most Canucks fans, however. Just how did they manage to convince Ryan Kesler to be in a video with noted Canucks villain Dustin Byfuglien? “I don’t think Kes knew he was going to be cut in with a couple of Winnipeg Jets.” Patrick chuckled. “We had filmed and cut him in separately. It wasn’t hard to convince him to do anything, as soon as we sent the e-mail he replied almost immediately and said he was absolutely in and was happy to help.”
Of course, it’s not just about educating the people of the world about sexual orientation sensitivity, it is also about educating the NHL players themselves. Many people might remember the two incidents Wayne Simmonds was involved with last year where alleged sexual and racial slurs were used in an on ice incident. It would seem that is just as important to get NHL players on board with the morals and values of You Can Play as well as the average fan. Patrick Burke agrees with this. “Part of what we do when we ask these plays to be in a PSA, we contact them and let them know ‘this is why we’re doing it, this is what we stand for, this is what you’re supporting, and here’s why.’ I think what you’re going to see now as we move forward here, is more and more athletes understanding the role of You Can Play, and what we’re trying to accomplish, and even if they’re not doing a video, getting on board by eliminating those words from their vernacular.”
It’s hard to downplay the importance of having NHL superstars sign up to help out with You Can Play. Having such a visible group of star athletes supporting the cause against homophobia is groundbreaking, as it allows the players to be role models for changing the way people view homophobic slurs. Patrick says it has gotten to the point where NHL players are starting to approach them, offering to help in any way they can. “We’re at the point now where athletes are e-mailing us trying to find ways to get involved. We’ve had probably 7 or 8 NHL players e-mail us and say ‘Hey, I saw that video, I’d like to do one’ or ‘what else can I do to help?’ and things like that. It’s been remarkably easy to get players to participate and I really think that’s a tribute to the NHL community.”
Changing people’s habits or their minds is never easy, of course, and Patrick knows there is a long road ahead of him. “The way we will measure success, is when openly gay players are no longer a story, at every level. When a player comes out and it’s not front page news, and people just say ‘we’re used to that now.’ When athletes are no longer being intimidated, when gay athletes feel safe in their locker room, then we’ll know we’ve done our job. So I’m proud of what where we stand right now but we’ve got a long way to go still.” If Ryan Kesler and other players continue to support the tireless work of the You Can Play organization, that day might be here sooner than you think.
There is one more question that needs to be answered, though. Patrick Burke, who would you go with, Luongo, or Schneider? “No comment.” laughed Burke. “I’d get fined a great deal of money for tampering on that one. First of all, Mike Gillis does not give a shit about my opinion, and second of all I would be fined a great deal if I commented at all.” Brian Burke couldn’t have said it better himself.
If you’d like to learn more about You Can Play, please visit their website at http://youcanplayproject.org/ . At the end of July you will be able to purchase merchandise from their website to support the You Can Play cause, in the way of t-shirts, bumper stickers, helmet stickers, and bag tags for your hockey bag or luggage bags. You can also check out other player videos on their website. They also hope to able to open up the website to allow people to submit their own You Can Play videos at some point during the summer.
