The girls’ hockey team at a Woodstock, N. B. high school has won a human rights award for the way they defended two teammates after they came out as gay.
The provincial Human Rights Commission says it wanted to reward the team for its action in standing up against homophobia.
“Individually, and as a team, these women exemplify the leadership qualities in the promotion of human rights that make them worthy recipients of the 2009 New Brunswick Human Rights Award,” said Gordon Porter, chair of the New Brunswick Human Rights Commission in a statement.
Two Lady Thunder players told their teammates that they are gay after word about it started spreading online. Alyssa McLean and Sierra Paul said it wasn’t easy to do, but they soon found they didn’t have anything to worry about from their teammates.
“Within our team it was fine,” said teammate Hannah Steeves. “We supported them.”
But the girls were subjected to on-ice taunts from players on a rival team. After the game, Steeves said the opposing team wouldn’t shake the two girls’ hands. And later, the Woodstock team was refused service at a fast-food restaurant.
They came up with a simple but direct plan to fight back: rainbow-colored buttons with the word homophobia crossed out. Soon the players, coaches and parents were wearing the buttons to their games, and it caught the attention of other schools in the province.
“A team in Edmonton thought it was cool and so we gave them our pins and they put them on,” McLean said.
Porter said others should follow the team’s example in standing up against the threatening attitudes.
“The way these young women responded to these incidents by promoting respect and acceptance for sexual orientation diversity within their hockey league serves as a model for the promotion of human rights among youth,” Porter said.
