Brock Weston: Facing off with homophobia in sports & accepting my sexuality
What Connects Us - A podcast by Conexus Credit Union
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Like so many Saskatchewan kids - Brock Weston grew up in a small town playing hockey. This eventually landed him at an NCAA level college in Wisconsin lacing up his skates for the Marian Sabres. However, Brock's biggest battle wasn't taking place in the face-off circle, it was understanding and accepting his sexuality while navigating the impacts of homophobic language in his own team's locker room. Brock joins the What Connects Us Podcast to share how he worked up the courage to come out to his team after he could no longer take the homophobic slurs and rumours of his sexuality. He chats about his journey to self-acceptance, the surprising reaction his team had to his news, the power of representation, and how damaging non-inclusive language can be. Brock also describes the rollercoaster of what it was like to have something he kept secret for so long broadcast internationally when a piece he wrote for OutSports went viral at the beginning of 2020. It's a revealing and vulnerable story of self-discovery and one that kept Brock asking himself "Will hockey keep me?"