Hockey Player Comes Out as Gay, Inspired by ‘Heated Rivalry’

Hockey player Jesse Kortuem has come out as gay after being inspired by the smash hit romance series Heated Rivalry.

“I know many closeted and gay men in the hockey world are being hit hard by Heated Rivalry‘s success,” Kortuem, who has played defense/center for several leagues outside of the NHL told Out Wednesday. “Never in my life did I think something so positive and loving could come from such a masculine sport.”

“I’ve struggled the last few weeks to put these emotions into words, fearing the impact on team dynamics, etc.,” he continued, adding, “Today, I took the step to finally tell my hockey journey and my story. I’m beyond grateful for all the positive comments I’ve received from past teammates and high school teammates.”

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Kortuem shared an emotional post about his coming out journey on Facebook Tuesday, sharing how the Crave/HBO Max show starring Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie as two closeted hockey players “sparked” something in him to share his sexuality with the public.

“I am a private person. Those who know me best know that I don’t share much if anything publicly on social media, but lately, something has sparked in me (ok – yes credit to #HeatedRivalry),” he wrote. “I realized it is finally time to share a journey I have kept close to the vest for a long time.”

While hockey has long brought “comfort” for Kortuem, the athlete said the “rink did not feel like a place where I could be all of me” for a long time.

“I felt I had to hide parts of myself for far too long,” he wrote. “Growing up as the youngest of four boys in the #StateOfHockey (Minnesota), sports and competition were not just what we did. They were who we were. As a young teenager, I carried a weight that did not seem to fit into that world, and I lived in a constant state of dichotomy. I loved the game, but I lived with a persistent fear. I wondered how I could be gay and still play such a tough and masculine sport.”

He continued, “To my younger self, that identity could never be revealed. I did not think those two worlds could occupy the same person, let alone the same locker room.”

Coming out in the 2000s “did not feel like an option, especially with so little positive representation in the media at the time,” Kortuem shared, “and it would have been a social disaster at such a large high school.”

At age 17, he walked away from the high school hockey team “and the brotherhood of hockey friendships I had developed from a young age for a myriad of reasons.”

Even when Kortuem got back into playing hockey “at a high level” as an adult, he “still could not bring myself to be fully out on my adult hockey teams.”

“On the inside, I was still that kid in Minnesota hiding,” he explained. “Like many closeted athletes, revealing who I truly was to my team would change everything in an instant, their opinion of me, could bring negative attention to the team with the ‘gay player,’ so I never took the chance. I spent every week in a locker room with guys I respected, yet I still did not feel safe enough to tell them who I truly was.”

In 2017, Kortuem found community in a gay hockey tournament, and he now plays for the Cutting Edges Hockey Club, an LGBTQIA+ hockey team in Vancouver.

“It has been a long, vulnerable road to move past the closeted athlete persona (something I’m still working on today) and find actual peace through the friendships I have developed through hockey in Vancouver (Cutting Edges), Toronto (Misfits), and across the US,” he wrote, noting that he has “finally found [his] peace.”

For athletes who might still be in the closet or “struggling to find their way,” Kortuem shared a message of “hope.”

“I want you to know that there is hope and you’re not alone,” he wrote. “There is a life and a deep happiness waiting for you on your path. You will get through this, and it is going to be okay.”

Heated Rivalry, which is based on the Game Changers series by Rachel Reid, has already been renewed for a second season.