New York Rangers’ Sean Avery Says No Hockey Player Should Worry About Coming Out: “Maybe If Sean Avery Is There, They Would Have Less Of A Problem With It”

An update of sort to the previous posting, the Toronto Sun reporting that New York Rangers’ Sean Avery says he is willing to support a gay professional hockey player who may feel intimidated by the decision to come out. “If there's a kid in Canada or wherever, who is playing and really loves the game and wants to keep playing but he's worried about coming out, I'd tell him to pick up the phone and call (NHLPA executive director) Donald Fehr and tell him to book me a (plane) ticket. I'll stand beside him in the dressing room while he tells his teammates he is gay. Maybe if Sean Avery is there, they would have less of a problem with it." Avery added that after living in West Hollywood (during a tumultuous stint with the Los Angeles Kings) and now Chelsea in Manhattan, not to mention his internship with Vogue, Avery is completely comfortable with gay men. He also said that there are “probably a few gay players in the NHL, but I don’t know if somebody has the courage (to come out).” Interestingly, he suggests that there would likely be more issues outside the dressing room that inside. “The reaction from fans in visiting arenas would be tough,” he said, “but I don’t think it would be that big a deal. I get booed no matter where I go.”