Hockey's Brendan Burke Dies

I AM out. 100%...however I am not a silly little queen who feels the need to put 400 rainbow stickers on my car and wave a rainbow flag while I am at the grocery store. If YOU feel the need to do that, then perhaps it is YOU who gets the enjoyment from that glory hole...If anyone asks, I am NEVER afraid to tell...that is the difference between me and people like you who have to make EVERYTHING about your life GAY. and judging by your attitude, I am guessing you are a twink who spends at LEAST 5 days a week in some gay bar...LOL...sad..very sad... and also unlike you..when I die for whatever reason..my tombstone won't say here lies a GAY guy...... I am much more of a person than just the gay part...clearly you have a very limited view on life... now run along. high maintenance queens like you need a lot of time to get ready to cruise the gay bars.....

Im so sad... that kid was amazing. He actually made me want to give a shit about sports. Now he's dead and im pissed at nature for yet again wrecking my life with snow and ice. STUPID SNOW I SWEAR, its pretty but all it does is kill me slowly.

Yey dieter, I'm guessing that 1% is spent on the receiving end of of some troll glory hole. No? Get a life, be a man, and actually come out.

it's too bad this has sad sad story has been turned into an angry rant forum for one guy whose attitude serves to keep some in the dark ages.... celebrate the Burkes, forgive the confused and pray for all

As a good friend of Brendan's, dieter, I think you should know that being gay was an important part of his life.I completely recognize your frustration with the fact that his sexuality has crept into headlines, perhaps as you may feel, to make them more salacious. And I agree, it is frustrating that for those who wish their sexuality not to be a focal point of their identity are forced to have it as such if they identify as gay. That being said, Brendan went back to his Catholic HS in order to out himself to over 200 all-male students to show just what you are saying--that being gay is part of who he is &in fact, for Brendan, was something to be celebrated. Harvey Milk said that LGBT Americans need to come out of the closet in order for us to get anywhere. Brendan BRAVELY utilized his privilege/access to news media because of his father's fame to publicly out himself to the world so that those in sports & elsewhere would know that homophobia needs to stop and you can be out and play.

whatever GAY chad,... gay poster on a gay web rag. a gay resident of LA, and a gay restaurant customer, and gay car driver, and gay employee. i think that covers most of your life right?...or do I need to describe you as GAY even more?...I guess somehow prefacing everything you do in life with the word gay, somehow is going to make straight people love you?...i don't get it. Being gay is about 1% of my life. I do not go around saying hi I am Dieter, GAY homeowner, Gay business owner, Gay food eater, Gay pet owner...gay lawn mower, gay car washer...etc. sad that anyone has to preface their every action with the adjective gay! and as long as you feel it necessary to point it out in every instance where it has no meaning, we will always be considered different, and less than....way to go.. how proud you must be. GAY chad. when you go to the movies..do you tell them you want a gay ticket..just so they know a gay guy bought it? or can you simply enjoy the movie as a person?

wow. i didn't mean to ruffle feathers....would this be less tragic if mr. burkes' child were a hetero girl? I think most folks assume that if there's no "gay" prefix the talk show host or comedian(ienne) and/or designer is straight. How do we celebrate the accomplishments of say "Ellen" if she'd never came out? How is her coming out not news worthy? Is there ever a time or situation when such "labeling" might just bring us closer to equality?

Dieter, your ignorance is delightful. You're probably very young, so rather than stoop to your level and call you names, I will simply point out that the story is relevant because the individual was profiled by ESPN.com and the editors of the Advocate are reporting that he has tragically died. The Advocate is a news source for stories involving gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans people. As he was gay and the story of his coming out was a news item, this is a follow-up. Now grow up and show some respect.

In actual fact, when Brendan Burke came out as gay and his father, the GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs, stood behind him, it opened a dialogue about being gay in the very macho and very straight-defined world of hockey. The story is as much about his father's very, very public acceptance of his son's sexual orientation as it is about Brendan. His father could just as easily have easily not commented, or been embarrassed, but instead sent an oblique message to the hockey world about the subject of homosexuality. Sneering at the story about his dead gay son says more about certain type of gay man's attitudes towards other gay people than it does about the story of young Mr. Burke's short, brave life.

what a dumb ass...OK so tell me..what does his being gay have anything to do with the death?...have you EVER in your life heard a story that read: "Straight boy killed in wreck"??? NO you have not. It is irrelevant to the story. Sad that he died?..ok...important to know that he was gay?...NOT!!! gay people are the only ones who EVER get listed by their sexuality before anything else... like GAY talk show host Ellen or Gay actress Rosie, or GAY clothing designer...etc... gay has NOTHING to do with who they are. and until people stop reporting about us as if we were sexual deviants who can only be identified by sexuality, then we will NEVER have equality. If you can't see that then YOU are part of the problem!! GAY poster Dieter. (posted this way because obviously you need to know everyone's sexuality)