Bullying of any kind incites a lot of passionate emotional responses. And it is a;ways welcome when we see a person turn such a negative aspect of their life into a positive and major leguage hockey player Sean Avery continues to do that. Now serving as an LGBT advocate, Avery wishes to expand his message of tolerance and acceptance by speaking out about his past. Here’s more:
“Maybe it’s because when I was such a bully when I had my uniform on, that when I took it off I felt the need to stand up against the bully,”
That’s how Sean Avery describes his decision to speak out in defense of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights in recent years. The former New York Rangers star, known for his agitating playing style as well as controversial behavior off the ice, discusses his LGBT advocacy stance at length in a Dec. 8 interview with the New York Daily News.
The 32-year-old, who publicly backed marriage equality in 2011, also claims to have been subjected to a number of anti-gay slurs in recent years. That same year, he was slammed by Wayne Simmons of the Philadelphia Flyers. Also, Avery pointed that the use of anti-gay language by players has yet to be addressed at the NHL labor negotiations.
“My belief is the responsibility lies with the leagues, the way they discipline players, the position they take and use it in every-day incidents, One guy’ll get slapped with a fine, the next day nothing will happen. There needs to be consistency.”
We need more inspired leaders that are inspired to stop these harmful acts upon one another.