A hockey player has come out as gay, citing the impact of the television series Heated Rivalry as a primary inspiration for his decision.
In an interview with Out magazine and a detailed Facebook post, Jesse Kortuem shared his journey of reconciling his identity with the ‘masculine’ culture of the sport.
Speaking to the outlet, he said: ‘I know many closeted and gay men in the hockey world are being hit hard by Heated Rivalry’s success.
‘Never in my life did I think something so positive and loving could come from such a masculine sport. I’ve struggled the last few weeks to put these emotions into words, fearing the impact on team dynamics, etc.’
Meanwhile, in his emotional Facebook post, he claimed that ‘something has sparked in me’ which led him to making the announcement.
He wrote: ‘I am a private person. Those who know me best know that I don’t share much if anything publicly on social media, but lately, something has sparked in me (ok – yes credit to #HeatedRivalry). I realized it is finally time to share a journey I have kept close to the vest for a long time.
Hockey player Jesse Kortuem has come as gay in an emotional social media post
Kortuem claimed that ‘something has sparked in me’ which led to his announcement
‘For a long time, however, the rink did not feel like a place where I could be all of me. I felt I had to hide parts of myself for far too long,’ he wrote.
‘Growing up as the youngest of four boys in the #StateOfHockey (Minnesota), sports and competition were not just what we did. They were who we were.
‘As a young teenager, I carried a weight that did not seem to fit into that world, and I lived in a constant state of dichotomy. I loved the game, but I lived with a persistent fear. I wondered how I could be gay and still play such a tough and masculine sport.’
He revealed that he walked away from his high school hockey team ‘and the brotherhood of hockey friendships’ at the age of 17 ‘for a myriad of reasons’.
Kortuem said he got back into playing hockey ‘at a high level’ as an adult, though he ‘still could not bring myself to be fully out on my adult hockey teams’.
He continued by describing ‘a long and vulnerable’ journey throughout his professional career which led him to ‘breaking point’ in 2017.
He said, that year, he eventually found community at a gay hockey tournament.
Now, he plays for the Cutting Edges Hockey club – an LGBTQIA+ hockey team – in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Hockey has been swept up in the craze of the hugely popular television series ‘Heated Rivalry’ – with the stars of the show bringing new eyeballs to the sport.
The show, which is adapted from a series of novels by author Rachel Reid, focuses on the romance and rivalry between a pair of hockey players from Canada and Russia.
Kortuem credited hit TV show ‘Heated Rivalry’ for inspiring his decision to come out
It’s quickly become one of the most talked about television shows in pop culture in both Canada and the United States – as legions of fans eagerly tuned in for the six episodes of the first season.
Sexuality in sports has long been a controversial topic – especially in men’s sports – but there may be no sport which has struggled more with LGBTQ+ inclusivity than hockey.
The NBA broke through the ‘rainbow ceiling’ when Jason Collins became the first male athlete in a major American sport to publicly come out as gay. Before then, John Amaechi came out after he had stopped playing in the NBA.
In baseball, there hasn’t been an active MLB player who has come out as gay. However, there are players who have come out after they finished their careers.
As for the NFL, they’ve had dozens players come out of the closet after they retired from the league. Michael Sam became the first openly gay player to get drafted in 2014. In 2021, Tampa Bay Buccaneers pass rusher Carl Nassib became the first active player to come out and take part in an NFL game.
