Pro hockey referee regularly hears homophobic slurs on ice

MontrealerAndreaBarone, a professional hockey referee working for theECHL, came out to family and friends a few years ago andcame out publicly last December.

The responsewas overwhelmingly positive.

Still,Barone says heoverhears homophobic slurs regularly.

"It's just one of those things that gets labelled as part of the game," he said.

• Fighting homophobia and the other F-word

Barone, who is currently based in Nashville, suffered depression as he struggled to accept his sexuality but now he is comfortable with himself and mentors youth who are facing similar struggles. He invites anyone who needs to talk to reach out to him viaemail.

He came out publicly hoping it would be a stepping stone for someone in the NHL.

"There's no (NHL) player, official, coach that's come out, current or retired, and that's the only sport of the big five sports in North America that no one's come out yet,"

It's a slow process but times are changing, he says.

New campaign 'extremely important'

He says the newQuebec campaign against homophobic slurs is "extremely important and goes to show it's actually a problem because it's not a conversation that happens regularly amongst people,"

The bold messages appear inTV and radio announcements as well as posters that will soon appear in arenas, sports centres and community centres across the province.

They includestrong languageand featurepeople regretting the fact that they missed an opportunity to speak up against bullying and homophobic language.

Baronesays there's always a negative connotation when you'recalled one of those names on the ice.

"It just pushes people further and further in the closet as it pushed me further and further into the closet for a very long time," he said.

Life lessons

Recently, after warning the same player about making homophobic slurs several times,Baronepenalized him for calling another player "aneff-inghomo."

It was a 10-minute penalty forunsportsmanlikeconduct and the coach wanted an explanation.

Baronesaid he explained the reason and the coach at firstreplied, "well he didn't say it to you."

That shows how people often think it's not really abig deal,Baronesaid.

Baronelater told the coach, "if that language is okay on the ice, thenI don't belong here," and that's when the coach started to understand.

The coach apologized and agreed that kindof language shouldn't be used at all any more,Baronesaid.

"(He)didn't realize what he was saying and he's actually a great guy," Baronesaid, adding that many people do not realize the impact their words have on others.

Barone says the awareness campaign in Quebec is a big step in the right direction.

"(Using those slurs) is always hurting somebody, whether it's directly or indirectly, you never know who hears it and you never know who's struggling," he said.