Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill Bumface
Back to Kuzmenko, he may have an issue with gays (we don't know). But if he does, that also doesn't mean it's forever. Maybe he's already made big strides from his views on the subject from 10 years ago.
Having a lot of family from Russia, I will say that if this guy is on a journey of acceptance, he may have started from the gold tees, while a lot of us started at the reds. What's important is that people progress, and growing up surrounded by Russian cultural values, that might take quite a bit of time.
My Grandpa was born to Russian parents, and by the time he left this earth he'd fully accepted his bisexual granddaughter, and saw his son-in-law become his daughter-in-law, and still maintained a relationship with her through it all. He was likely way behind Kuzmenko at the same age, but I think there was still a good person in there just finding their way through it all.
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This.
Kuzmenko's situation was a lot different than a lot of other NHLers. This wasn't a guy that has been playing in North America since he was 17 (like Zadorov), he's been in North America for about 18 months now, and would have been in North America for like 6-9 months at the time he refused to wear the jersey.
He's been brought up and raised in a Russian culture where the anti-LGBT viewpoint was the expectation, and the alternative is not only frowned upon but actually illegal.
Now I'm not in his shoes but I could at least understand how somebody in his situation might have different views than somebody brought up with my upbringing.
If we want people to change though we need to be able to understand why they may feel a certain way and what's happening, and try to educate them, not shame them. Especially for a person with that background. It's a lot different than if a guy born and raised in Calgary feels the same way TBH.