Zoe Boyd is emerging as a powerful voice for LGBTQ athletes and women’s sports
Zoe Boyd is using the stories of LGBTQ athletes to inspire a new generation of sports leaders and interest in women's sports. The post Zoe Boyd is emerging as a powerful voice for LGBTQ athletes and women’s sports appeared first on Outsports.
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This interview of PWHL player and emerging podcaster Zoe Boyd is part of Outsports’ monthlong series for Women’s History Month, “How women have led the way out of the closet in sports.”
For women’s professional hockey player Zoe Boyd, sports and queerness go hand-in-hand. Now she’s using her platform to inspire LGBTQ athletes to embrace that.
A self-described “tomboy,” Boyd’s love of hockey began at a young age, as she was surrounded by a family full of hockey players growing up. Her older brother and her father were both hockey players, and Boyd even remembers her mother being skilled on the ice.
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“That was just what we did up there in Toronto,” Boyd recently told Outsports.
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How women have led the way out of the closet in sports
In many ways, LGBTQ women have led the way out of the closet in sports. For March, Outsports publishes a series documenting their leadership.
Last year, the Boston Fleet defender launched her No Straight Answers podcast, on which she’s facilitated conversations interlinking the realms of both athleticism and LGBTQ identity. Notable guests of hers have included singer Katie Tupper, rugby player Asia Hogan-Rochester, and table tennis Olympian Lily Zhang.
Boyd has made it her mission to chronicle the lives and experiences of out women and men across sports, even as she writes her own chapter now in the PWHL. She’s part of an increasing next generation of voices in women’s sports media — LGBTQ voices — who are showing the way to inclusion, including soccer legend Abby Wambach, the comedians of Jockular and the duo of Megan Rapinoe and Sue Bird.
As a child, Boyd found solace in the streets and on the ice, with hockey allowing her to embrace the dimensions of her identity.
“Hockey was such a safe place for me to just be myself and not have any outside stressors,” she said. “I grew dependent on playing, because it was just a nice escape place.”
Though her family was always supportive of her athletic ambitions, it was only recently that Boyd’s mother, Tammy Thomson, was able to attend one of her games. When Boyd was 5 years old, Tammy was in an accident that left her with a brain injury. As a result, Thomson was in a coma for four months, lost her memory and was paralyzed on the right side her body.
In late 2024, Thomson attended one of Boyd’s hockey games for the first time, as Boyd was playing on the Ottawa Charge against the Toronto Defenders.
“To this day, it was probably the one of the greatest moments of my life,” said Boyd. “If you could see me, I have a massive smile on my face because I can’t even express how special that was for me to have her there.”
Boyd continues to thrive in her career, but these days, she’s taking things slowly. She is currently rehabilitating after sustaining a torn ACL in February. She wakes up every day “around 6 or 7 a.m.” and makes coffee — “that’s the most important thing.”
Then, she goes through physical therapy, and later, an upper body workout at the gym, where she looks forward to seeing her friends and teammates.
Zoe Boyd is using her voice, and athletes’ stories, to inspire
Her No Straight Answers podcast allows Boyd another avenue for self-expression and to reach others.
“I saw a window of opportunity to hopefully create something that could inspire people to be themselves, and be authentic, and feel included,” said Boyd. “Sports and queerness help expand upon each other and I saw [No Straight Answers] as a great opportunity to hopefully make people smile and make people feel like they’re welcome.”
In recent years, Boyd has noticed LGBTQ sports fandom grow across the athletic landscape, specifically in hockey. She says that most of her fans are queer women, and while she can’t speak for the men’s league, she’s believes LGBTQ representation has been a catalyst for growth.
“It’s been fantastic,” Boyd said. “A huge population of our players are part of the LGBTQ+ community, and our fan base is so inclusive and loving and supportive. It’s just such a great, safe place for everybody — not just the players, but the fans, the coaches, and the staff. It’s been really special to see how it’s come together, and to see the demographics of the whole operation.”
In the years to come, Boyd hopes to maintain a good future on the ice. She’s equally excited to see where No Straight Answer takes her, and to continue to advocate for the LGBTQ community, opening doors for athletes including closet doors that so many have felt needed to be locked for so long.
“I’m grateful for the platform I have,” Boyd said. “Being ourselves is also so important for people to see — to have that visibility, to be confident, and comfortable in being themselves.”
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The post Zoe Boyd is emerging as a powerful voice for LGBTQ athletes and women’s sports appeared first on Outsports.
