Brendan Burke
| Brendan Burke | |
|---|---|
Brendan Burke in 2007, standing next to the Stanley Cup after it was won by the Anaheim Ducks, managed by his father Brian Burke
|
|
| Born |
Brendan Gilmore Burke December 8, 1988 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| Died | February 5, 2010 (aged 21) Economy, Indiana, United States |
| Alma mater |
Xaverian Brothers High School Miami University |
| Occupation | Hockey management Hockey goalie |
| Employer | Miami University |
| Known for | LGBT activism |
| Home town | Canton, Massachusetts |
| Parent(s) | Brian Burke, Kerry G. Burke |
Brendan Gilmore Burke (December 8, 1988 – February 5, 2010) was an athlete and student manager at Miami University for the RedHawks men's ice hockey team. The youngest son of Brian Burke, former general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs and of the US Olympic hockey team, in November 2009, he made international headlines for coming out, advocating for tolerance and speaking out against homophobia in professional sports. Burke's coming out was widely praised and supported by sports news outlets and fans, generating multiple discussions about homophobia in sports, and in hockey in particular. He was viewed as a pioneer in advocacy against homophobia in hockey, described as "the closest person to the NHL ever to come out publicly and say that he is gay."
Burke was killed in a car crash on February 5, 2010. Following his death, Burke's memory and contribution to LGBT awareness in hockey was honored by several hockey teams. The "Brendan Burke Internship" was later established in his honor by USA Hockey for his work in hockey management and a documentary entitled The Legacy of Brendan Burke aired on CBC Television in November 2010. Burke's death was the catalyst for the formation of the You Can Play project, a campaign to end homophobia in sports.
Brendan Gilmore Burke was born on December 8, 1988, in Vancouver, British Columbia, and was the younger son and third of four children of his father's first marriage. His parents divorced in 1995, and in 1997 he moved with his mother, Kerry to Boston, Massachusetts. During high school, Burke played hockey as a goaltender on the varsity team, but quit because he worried that his teammates would discover that he was gay. Instead, he told his family that he wanted to quit rather than spend the season benched off the active roster. He graduated from Xaverian Brothers High School in Westwood, Massachusetts.
...
Wikipedia