Brock McGillis

Brock McGillis (born October 10, 1983) is a Canadian former ice hockey goaltender and current advocate for LGBT+ rights. He was among the first men's professional hockey players to publicly come out as gay.[1][2][3]

Brock McGillis
Born (1983-10-10) October 10, 1983
Coniston, Ontario, Canada
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 183 lb (83 kg; 13 st 1 lb)
Position Goaltender
Caught Right
Played for Concordia Stingers
Duindam Wolves Den Haag
Kalamazoo Wings
Windsor Spitfires
Soo Greyhounds
Playing career 2001–2010
Website brockmcgillis.com

Playing career

McGillis played in the Ontario Hockey League between 2001 and 2002 with the Windsor Spitfires and the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (shortened to Soo Greyhounds). After playing for a season with the Kalamazoo Wings in the United Hockey League (UHL), he left North America to play in the Netherlands.

From 2009 to 2010, he played with the men's team at Concordia University in Montréal.

Post-playing career

In November 2016, McGillis came out as gay to the public.[4] Since then, he has been outspoken about LGBT+ issues and problems within North American ice hockey.[5][6]

After former NHLer, Daniel Carcillo launched a class-action lawsuit against the CHL for promoting a culture of abuse, McGillis spoke in support of it, stating that, "Whether it's associations, leagues, federations — it doesn't matter, pick a level — there's thousands, thousands of stories like this," and emphasized that junior hockey needed to be held accountable.[7]

He was featured in the 2019 documentary Standing on the Line. He has also served as an ambassador for You Can Play.[8]

In 2020, the Toronto Maple Leafs became the first NHL team to work with him, hiring him to run a virtual workshop about homophobia for Maple Leafs personnel.[9]

References
  1. Larkin, Matt (December 4, 2019). "Culture of Hockey: Q&A with Brock McGillis, the first openly gay pro hockey player". The Hockey News. Sports Illustrated. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
  2. Cromwell, Andrew (January 19, 2018). "Openly gay former pro fights homophobia in hockey". Global News. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
  3. Civian, Sara (June 26, 2020). "'It's not enough': Openly gay ex-hockey player calls on the sport to evolve". The Athletic. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
  5. Mendelsohn, Peter (February 4, 2019). "'Kids are hurting. Adults are hurting': Brock McGillis fights homophobia in hockey". CBC Sports. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
  6. Blair, Jeff; Stephen, Brunt; Richard, Deitsch (June 19, 2020). "Brock McGillis: There are systemic issues throughout hockey culture at every level". SN590 (Radio broadcast). Sportsnet. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
  7. Clipperton, Joshua (June 19, 2020). "Brock McGillis not surprised by alleged abuse in Carcillo-led lawsuit against CHL". CBC Sports. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
  8. Dutra, Aaron (March 2, 2018). "Brock McGillis' Longest Shift". LHJMQ. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
  9. Teitel, Emma (August 13, 2020). "At last, something to make us truly proud of the Toronto Maple Leafs". Toronto Star. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
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