MONTREAL – In honor of Pride Night at the Bell Centre, the Canadiens have invited GRIS-Montréal to host an awareness workshop for local U13 hockey coaches on Tuesday prior to the Habs’ game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
For nearly 10 years, the Canadiens have worked with the non-profit community organization whose goal is to demystify sexual orientation and gender identity.
“It was a natural fit for us in a way because it was related [to hockey], and we work mainly in schools to make them inclusive for all youths. The parallels were there because the initiative was about showing that sport should be inclusive for all, but especially for youths,” said GRIS-Montréal general manager Marie Hozeau.
The Canadiens content team spoke to Hozeau about the workshop, the importance of Pride Nights, and more.
Please note questions and answers have been modified for clarity and conciseness.
What misconceptions have you encountered about sexual orientation and gender identity when working in sports?
If we are talking about sports, there are many misconceptions that suggest that if you are a homosexual boy, you will perform worse in sports. There is this perception that if you are a homosexual, you are less of a man, so less masculine. In a contact sport like hockey, it could hurt your performance, which is completely false. There are people with all kinds of sexual orientations at all levels of sports. Even for women, there exists a certain perception of lesbian girls. In contrast to boys, they perform well, even better than others, but because they are lesbians. They are seen as less feminine, which explains why they perform better, even though this perspective offers some type of devaluation of their performance.
When we talk about gender, what we often hear is that trans people, especially trans women who compete with other non-trans women, have a certain advantage because they used to have a body that developed like a man. However, that’s hasn't been proven by science or research. If it was true, trans women would win all the time, which is not the case. These are the things we hear a lot of in the sports environment.
Can you talk more about the goal of the workshop with U13 coaches?
It’s about allowing coaches to have a better understanding of the basic concepts related to sexual orientation and gender diversity and to know that they are not the same since they are two completely different realities. It’s also about understanding the specific needs for youths questioning their sexual orientation or their gender identity in environments that foster tight bonds, like sports teams, where there is a lot of proximity to others. So how can they be good role models and companions for youths who may feel a little more isolated or are struggling with their identity or orientation? It’s about giving them concrete tools on ways to act when situations arise on the ice or in the locker room. For example, we know, unfortunately, that homophobic insults are still very present in sport. So how does one react when that happens? How should one react if a young boy or girl comes out to their team? These are just examples, but the idea is to tell them: “Here are some cases that we can work on together, and maybe experiences that you have already encountered and that you don’t know how to handle and that you would have liked to have been supported.” We look at them together and then determine what we can take from these specific cases as good practices.
What have you learned from working with these coaches over the years?
I think it’s very reassuring to see that they want these tools. They want to know how to react. They were involved in the workshops, which talked about situations they experienced themselves. So, I think it was helpful for them to have these conversations. It’s like there’s a glimmer of hope, because we often say that the sports community is too complicated of a space to move the needle; it’s a little stunted. It’s reassuring to know that those who are taking care of our youths are showing that openness and want to work towards inclusion. So, these workshops are fun to give because we’re working together in the same direction.
The Canadiens’ Pride Night is taking place on Tuesday. Why are nights like these important?
It’s very important, now more than ever, because we’ve seen an overall regression in society where these subjects have become more and more polarizing, where people have all kinds of opinions and false information. It’s taking on proportions that we could have never imagined in the 2020s in Quebec. So, [it’s important] to have institutions like the Montreal Canadiens position themselves and say: “For us, inclusion is part of our values.” It’s very important to shine a light on these realities and say: “Here’s the type of message we hope to send.”
