Via OutSports and the brilliantly named gay hockey blog Puck Buddies comes this charming account of a gay Dallas Stars fan’s recent trip to a game at the American Airlines Center with his boyfriend. An excerpt:

After our hockey game (he bought the tickets as a surprise), it got me thinking – will there ever be a time when I can go to a Stars game and not be afraid to kiss my boyfriend in between plays or periods? I think this is something every gay hockey fan has thought about at one point or another, and I’m curious to hear from other guys around here if they’ve been in the same position. 

I had an amazing time watching hockey with Jon and I can’t wait to go back and do it again and again and again, but wonder if I’ll feel more comfortable and a little less self-conscious the next time. The concern is Jon is my first REAL boyfriend, we live in Dallas, TX, and the typical hockey crowd mayyyyyy not be the most tolerant towards fans like us. I really do hope that one day we’ll be able to take in a game and not feel odd, judged or so rare. There’s no way we’re the only gay guys who go ape for the Stars. No way.

Saturday night was great. These past two months have been great, and Jon is great because he’s not only willing to put up with my hockey obsession but he encourages it as well. Oh yeah, the Stars beat the visiting Blue Jackets 4-2, and the night only got better after the final horn.

The author raises an interesting issue about same-sex PDAs at sporting events, and even though I “go ape” for the Philadelphia Flyers and not the Stars, it’s good to know there are other gay hockey fans in town. Turns out his name is Bobby, he’s a 23-year-old nursing student from Arlington and he actually has his own blog called, well, “A Gay Man’s Hockey Blog.” From a previous post on Puck Buddies about coming out as a hockey fan in the gay community:

Apparently being a gay hockey fan is quite the oxymoron down here in the south. Sure the majority of my true friends and family were perfectly okay with me being gay, but as I would soon find out, it’s sometimes difficult being gay and in love with hockey.  As I began to meet other gay men and experience some parts of gay culture I realized that a lot of gay people found it pretty odd for a gay man to like hockey.

I dated one guy who told me flat that I was not a “good” gay because I liked hockey instead of Lady Gaga. Sure enough that guy didn’t work out, and to hell with anyone who doesn’t get it. I spent a good year becoming comfortable with who I was, an openly gay man, and hockey was there for me.