Brock McGillis Warns HBO’s 'Heated Rivalry' May Hinder, Not Help, Closeted Hockey Players

Brock McGillis, widely recognized as the first openly gay professional hockey player, is pushing back against suggestions that HBO’s queer hockey romance series "Heated Rivalry" will open the door for closeted NHL players to come out. McGillis, who came out publicly in 2016 after retiring from a semi-professional career in leagues including the Ontario Hockey League and United Hockey League, now works as a full-time advocate for inclusion in hockey.

The current debate was sparked when former NHL player and author Sean Avery suggested in an interview that the success of "Heated Rivalry" could encourage gay NHL players to come out, framing the series as a potential turning point for the league. McGillis told PinkNews that he “wholeheartedly” disagrees, warning that visibility in fiction does not automatically translate into safety in real locker rooms.

McGillis, now 42, told PinkNews that the intense public focus on a fictional secret relationship between two star hockey players could heighten scrutiny on real athletes without addressing the underlying homophobia that keeps many closeted. He said it is “probably more likely to have an adverse effect on a player coming out,” stressing that he enjoys the show as entertainment but doubts it will shift the attitudes that dominate hockey culture.

McGillis also questioned how much of the show’s audience overlaps with the players and fans who most need to see inclusive narratives, noting that he does not believe “many hockey bros are going to watch it” or discuss it positively if they do. According to AOL , he contrasted the enthusiasm around "Heated Rivalry" with his own coming out in 2016, pointing out that no wave of NHL players followed him out of the closet despite extensive coverage of his story.

For McGillis, this disconnect underscores a key point: representation alone, especially when contained to scripted drama, is insufficient to overcome years of learned fear and stigma experienced by gay and bisexual men and other LGBTQ+ people in the sport.

Central to McGillis’s critique is his view that professional hockey remains marked by what he calls normalized homophobia—slurs and stereotypes embedded in everyday language, “jokes,” and team dynamics from youth levels onward. In his PinkNews interview, he described common locker-room language, behaviours and attitudes as sometimes homophobic, saying this begins “at a very young age and progresses through your whole life,” leaving many players convinced they would be rejected or lose their careers if they came out.

Speaking to the New Jersey Devils , McGillis previously recalled how homophobic language in locker rooms made him feel “bad” and “wrong,” and that he could not be himself and still play the sport he loved. He said those experiences shaped his decision to stay closeted throughout his playing days, even as some people around him suspected or knew he was gay.

McGillis also shared with PinkNews that watching the first episode of "Heated Rivalry" triggered a panic attack because it mirrored aspects of his own past: he dated a man for three years while keeping the relationship secret, to the point of using an alias in his partner’s phone so teammates or friends would not find out. This personal reaction, he suggested, reflects how deeply secrecy and fear can be ingrained for LGBTQ+ people in hockey.

Rather than relying on a television series to drive change, McGillis points to his ongoing “Shiftmakers” tour as an example of how direct engagement can reshape team environments. According to PinkNews, over a six-week period he visited approximately 150 junior and youth teams across Canada and North America, focusing on building spaces where all players—LGBTQ+ or not—feel able to be themselves.

McGillis told PinkNews that, during these sessions, more than 200 players disclosed experiences of self-harm or suicidal thoughts, while between 15 and 20 reported that they had been sexually assaulted. He added that he believes over 1,000 players he met are living with some form of anxiety or depression. These disclosures, he argued, show that the stakes of locker-room culture go far beyond whether a player feels safe to come out—they reach into mental health, safety, and the basic ability to participate fully in sport.

Even as he critiques the limits of televised representation, McGillis acknowledges that "Heated Rivalry" may help people around players—such as friends, partners, or family members—better understand the realities facing LGBTQ+ athletes. He told Times of India that he still believes many teammates in today’s game would rally around a player who comes out, but says that support must be backed by education, leadership, and policies that consistently affirm LGBTQ+ identities.