Boston Bruins’ Brad Marchand’s swipe against homophobia on social media caught the attention of ESPN after Marchand responded to a Twitter message that attacked him with a homophobic slur. Here’s what Marchand shot back to the tweeter: “This derogatory statement is offensive to so many people around the world, [you’re] the kind of kid parents are ashamed of.”
“One of the better two-way players in the league,” noted a January 17 ESPN report, Marchand “won a Stanley Cup with Boston in 2011 and the World Cup of Hockey with Team Canada last fall. This season, he has 11 points in his past six games, as the Bruins keep pace in the Atlantic Division playoff hunt.”
Plus Marchand “does more for the community, especially for military families, than many people know.” So the global sports media network followed up Marchand’s social media exchange with an interview:
ESPN.com: You were lauded by people in the LGBT community because of the tweet. What does that mean to you?
Marchand: I want to stand up for what I believe in, and I don’t think it’s right when people say things or bash people because of their sexual orientation. I have friends who are in gay relationships, and I don’t think it’s right for people to be against that. Everyone is allowed to find love whatever way that is, so I felt like that was a time to say something, especially nowadays. We’re in 2017, and things are a lot different than they were 100 years ago. We’re all evolving to be equal, and that’s the way things should be.
ESPN.com: How accepting will players be when a professional hockey player comes out?
Marchand: Guys would accept that, no question. We’re a team in the [dressing] room and a family. It doesn’t matter what different beliefs guys have, or where they come from, or whatever the case may be. Guys would accept it. Again, in the room we’re a family. That’s the way it is on a hockey team, and that’s the way it will always be.
ESPN.com: How close do you think that is from happening?
Marchand: I have no idea. It’s bound to happen at some point, and when it does, it will be accepted.
