“Heated Rivalry” Blamed For Increased LGBTQIA+ Bullying In School Hockey Programs
A Boston-based civil rights organisation, Lawyers For Civil Rights (LCR), sent a letter on 3 March 2026 to Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell, calling on her office to take stronger action against a surge in anti-LGBTQIA+ harassment within the state’s high school hockey programs.
Connor Storie in Heated Rivalry. (Accent Aigu Entertainment/Bell Media)
What the reports are saying
LCR’s Executive Director, Iván Espinoza-Madrigal, said the organisation had received multiple complaints over recent weeks from high school hockey programs in the North Shore, South Shore, and MetroWest regions of Massachusetts. All involved male high school students. Each report included, in Espinoza-Madrigal’s words, “allegations of anti-LGBTQ+ harassment and hostile team environments.” Some involved coaches. Others involved teammates or opposing teams. At least two of the targeted students were students of colour.
The complaints describe homophobic slurs, locker-room intimidation, and discriminatory treatment across the board.
The Heated Rivalry connection
Some of the interactions between the hudcons, protagonists of the new queer series Heated Rivalry — a thread. pic.twitter.com/MK2Zbj8lSP
— nabu 🏑 juridico hollanov (@shanespregnant) November 29, 2025
LCR believes the spike is linked to the growing popularity of Heated Rivalry, the HBO Max drama about two closeted NHL superstars in a secret, years-long romance. The show premiered on 28 November 2025 and became a cultural moment fast, averaging 9 million viewers per episode by late January 2026.
Oren Sellstrom, LCR’s litigation director, was direct about the link: “The uptick has been dramatic, and it has coincided with the conversation that is happening around Heated Rivalry, around what it means to be gay in sports.”
The governing body under fire
LCR’s letter also takes aim at the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA), the governing body that oversees more than 200,000 student-athletes across 380 member schools. The group accuses the MIAA of having “the authority and institutional structures to adjudicate and punish discriminatory conduct by coaches, team members, and fans, but chooses not to exercise them.” The MIAA did not respond to requests for comment. LCR is also currently suing the association for records on discrimination and bullying at sporting events.
What’s actually being done
Attorney General Campbell’s office stated that homophobia “has no place in our locker rooms, ice rinks, or playing fields.” Since launching a statewide anti-hate initiative in 2022, the office has trained 194 school districts and released updated guidance on hate and bias incidents in 2024.
Kevin Corsino, a board member with Boston Pride Hockey, a queer hockey organisation with around 400 members, welcomed the scrutiny but was measured about what it reveals. “That visibility has been great, and it’s been positive,” he said, “but it’s also showing us in this instance that there’s a lot more work that needs to happen in the culture and kind of changing that culture framework in hockey.”
François Arnaud as Scott and Robbie Graham-Kuntz as Kip in Heated Rivalry. (Accent Aigu Entertainment/Bell Media)
At DNA, we’ve followed the Heated Rivalry phenomenon closely. The show has done something genuinely significant for queer representation in sport. But as Corsino put it, visibility and acceptance aren’t the same thing, and right now, the gap between them is where these students are getting hurt. and safety.
