Finnish athletes belonging to sexual minorities see Janne Puhaka, who died on Sunday, as a great role model.
Janne Puhakan29, death has touched the sports world. Puhaka’s spouse has told the police that he shot Puhaka and caused Puhaka’s death.
Puhakka is remembered as the first ice hockey player who played in the SM league, who openly talked about his homosexuality. He was 24 years old at the time and finished his playing career.
Swimmer Ari-Pekka Liukkonen was the first Finnish top-level male athlete to come out of the closet during his career.
Liukkonen sees that Puhaka’s words and actions had a great significance in Finnish sports. Ice hockey is Finland’s most visible sport and has a masculine reputation. The role model has been big.
– If we think about women’s ice hockey, there have already been examples there for a very long time. On the men’s side, the process has been clearly slower and more difficult. Janne was the first on the men’s side who was able to come out of the closet, Liukkonen describes.
Among the best scorers in Finland’s main league, the Auroraliiga Matilda Nilsson’s according to Janne Puhakka left a mark on how everyone has the right to be themselves. He describes Puhakka as a kind and sympathetic miracle and a great role model.
– I know that in men’s hockey this is not an easy thing. When he came out with it, it was a heroic act on his part, Nilsson states.
2016 World Championship bronze medalist in boxing Life Gustafsson told in 2017 that he would have liked to have played a role as a young athlete belonging to a sexual minority. According to Gustafsson, who has since ended his career, Puhakka showed the way for many.
– Janne has really helped many young people – why not adults too – everyone who struggles or has struggled with their own identity or sexuality. Janne is an example that the best thing is to be completely and unashamedly yourself despite the resistance, says Gustafsson now.
One of the female lions’ core players Ronja from Savoia sees Puhaka as a great role model for sexual minorities in Finnish sports. Savolainen has heard that many had been in contact with Puhakka and had come out about their sexual orientation to friends or family. Savolainen tips his hat to Puhaka.
– Social media has now seen how much he has influenced people. It shows how great a person he was. Puhakka was a role model for the whole of Finland, Savolainen describes.
Attitudes have changed after Puhaka’s exit
Elina Gustafsson believes that Puhakka has influenced people’s attitudes, although, according to the ex-boxer, there is still work to be done.
– Thanks to Janne, we have had to, been able to have the conversations that create a safe atmosphere for everyone. I believe that Janne has played a big role in this.
Ari-Pekka Liukkonen came out of the closet on ‘s TV broadcast in February 2014, Puhakka told about his sexual orientation publicly in Helsingin Sanomat in October 2019. Liukkonen feels that attitudes towards sexual minorities in Finnish sports have improved over ten years.
According to Liukkonen, the background is the exits of individual athletes, but also the changed marriage law. In December 2014, the Parliament approved the amendment of the Marriage Act so that same-sex couples can enter into marriage. The law entered into force in March 2017. According to the top swimmer, the change in the law has been reflected in the more open attitudes of society as a whole and thus also of the sports world.
Ronja Savolainen sees that the attitude towards sexual minorities in the Finnish sports world has improved in the five years since Puhaka came out.
– I know it from my own back. I was nervous when I came out. The reaction was that I am the same person. Such things have become normalized, Savolainen describes.
In Matilda Nilsson’s opinion, the empathetic reactions after Puhaka’s passing also indicate a change in attitude towards sexual minorities. Both Savolainen and Nilsson hope that there will continue to be people like Puhaka in the public eye.
– I would hope that now thoughts will arise in men’s ice hockey and in sports in general and among all people, that they would dare to talk about things and get out of the bubble, so to speak, Nilsson says.
Janne Puhakka died on Sunday evening in Henttaa, Espoo. The police have said that the homicide is being investigated as a murder.