Today, hockey must reflect the changing values of its fan base. That fan base is more progressive and more intolerant of intolerance itself. There Are No Gay Players in the NHL.Really? Fans of the future will not accept homophobia in the sports and entertainment products they consume. Statistically, there are now and always have been gay players in the NHL. Admittedly, precise estimates of the gay population in the league are notoriously difficult to find. Nonetheless, according to a 2017 Gallup study based on 340,000 interviews, the percentage of American adults identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender in 2017 was 4.5%. Taking into account the multinational makeup of the NHL, let’s assume gay men make up half that number or 2.25% of the global population. There is no reason to believe that the American population is different from others in terms of sexual orientation. If these assumptions hold then, with roughly 700 players in the NHL, we can reasonably expect at least 15 gay players in the league in any given year. That means that, over the years, there have probably been several hundred gay NHLers, all of whom presumably kept their sexual orientation hidden from the public.
