NHL Partners With Anti-Homophobia Group To Help Players Be Comfortable With Their Sexuality And Educate Incoming Players

The NHL announced a new partnership Thursday with a sports-oriented anti-homophobia advocacy group to help decrease homophobia in professional hockey.

You Can Play and the NHL are joining forces to provide players with tolerance training and other programs, according to CNN.

The team and the players' union will also work to build You Can Play's programs into the league's behavioral health program to give players a confidential outlet to discuss issues of sexual orientation, according to a statement issued by the You Can Play and the league.

"As NHL players, we all strive to contribute towards helping our teams achieve success on the ice. Any player who can help in those efforts should be welcomed as a teammate," the statement quoted Ron Hainsey, a Winnipeg Jets defenseman and member of the NHL Players Association board."This partnership solidifies the message that the hockey community believes in fairness and equality for everyone."

No professional male-athlete in the four major American sports has ever come out about being gay. Because of preconceived notions that overtime have developed about a gay-athlete, many players overtime would not be too accepting of a gay-player or teammate.

The NHL is now attempting to help change that. With recent laws allowing same-sex marriage, more and more of the world is slowly accepting that yes, there are gay people out there and they're amongst everybody, even professional athletes.

"While we believe that our actions in the past have shown our support for the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community, we are delighted to reaffirm through this joint venture with the NHL Players' Association that the official policy of the NHL is one of inclusion on the ice, in our locker rooms and in the stands," Bettman said in the joint statement with You Can Play.

You Can Play was co-founded in 2012 by Philadelphia Flyers scout Patrick Burke, the son of hockey executive Brian Burke. Patrick Burke's brother, Brendan, announced he was gay in 2009. He died in a car crash the next year, according to CNN.

The NHL has had a policy on discrimination based on sexual orientation since 2005. The NBA, MLS and NFL have done its parts in trying to educate its players and ban discrimination.