ONE MINUTE MOORE RANDALL MOORE Brave young people lead the way Hockey dressing rooms can be an intimidating
place. Smart rookies don’t say much. They certainly don’t act cocky, and they most definitely don’t stand in the middle of the room and shout: “Guess what guys, I’m gay!” Not that Scott Heggart didn’t want to. Not that
the big goalie didn’t want to tell the world. But he was afraid, afraid of what his teammates would think. He had already shared his secret with his
mom, dad, brother and sister. Their love was, is, unconditional. The then-15 year old was about to enter Sacred
Heart High School in Stittsville, where he’d be making new friends. He decided, reluctantly, of course, that now was the time. He recorded a video of himself and posted it on YouTube, telling his “coming out” story. He also changed his Facebook status to say he was in a relationship, and posted a picture of himself with his boyfriend. And then he waited, nervously, fearing the
worst. He went to school the next day, and nothing happened, then nothing happened the day after that. Finally, on Sunday night, he received a private
message on Facebook from one of his hockey teammates, who wrote: “What you did man, it takes a lot of guts, I’m proud of you.” And it spread, the support for this brave
young man. Some even apologized, like the former football teammate, for making him feel “uncomfortable.” Scott Heggart became the only openly gay
hockey player in the Lanark-Carleton Minor Hockey League. He played softball and basketball. He took his boyfriend to the high school prom. Now in his early 20s, and attending the
University of Ottawa, Scott talks to local students as part of the No More Bullies campaign. He’s in another video with the likes of Daniel Alfredsson and Dion Phaneuf. That campaign is called, “If You Can Play, You Can Play.” Scott Heggart can play, all right. Though no
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more role-playing, thank you very much. That part of his life is over. Now he plays himself, and in doing so, openly, and with the support of guys like Alfie, Scott Heggart is proving to younger athletes
that not only is it okay to be a gay jock, it’s also okay to talk about it.
*** An aspiring journalist by the name of Laura
Nicholson wrote an emotional story in the Ottawa Citizen about losing her parents to murder-suicide. Laura was 12 when her dad shot her mother before killing himself in their Kingston home. He was 42. She was 39. Laura, an only child, made the gruesome discovery. Laura felt compelled to write about her experience in light of a recent murder- suicide in Stittsville, and the fact there are children involved. The media were all over the murder weapon − a baseball bat − and the word “ abuse.” And people who didn’t even know the couple were quick to pass judgement. Even on my radio commentary, during which I was reaching out to the two boys to remember their father as their dad, who was clearly mentally ill, meant to some listeners I was picking sides and overlooking the allegations of abuse. That was not my intent. Laura Nicholson understands, and she wants
people to know that all the headlines you read about in the paper, the comments made by so-called friends and neighbours… so much of just isn’t true. Her dad, a long-time police officer, became a poster boy for spousal abuse. The headlines screamed “ Control Freak” and “Killer’s Conduct Abusive.” First, says Laura, the people making those
comments to the media barely knew her parents. Secondly, the person being described bore no resemblance to the father she loved so dearly; and thirdly, those words hurt and still hurt to this day. Which is the lesson the media and the general
public must remember, she says − the lasting impact of words, a lesson so glaringly lost in the Stittsville tragedy. Those two boys read and hear and are aware of what’s being said. We can’t possibly know what it’s like, but Laura Nicholson does. And her message is old time common sense: Don’t believe everything you read. Laura Nicholson will be a fine journalist, of that
I am sure. And her tragedy will make her an even better one. And her mom, Maureen, and dad Ian, of this I am also sure: they’d be so proud of their little girl.
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