Meet the First Openly Gay Australian Hockey Player Davis Atkin

Davis Atkin is the first openly gay hockey player in Australia’s national league, and he made his international debut in the FIH Pro League in Rourkela, India in March.

The 22-year-old hockey player for the Canberra Chill participated in the four games in Rourkela, and he “performed admirably” on the field, as per Sportstar. Aside from being the first openly gay man in Australian hockey at the highest level, he is also the second in the sport to come out.

In 2022, Atkin was accidentally outed, and though it was initially difficult for him, he is described to be “remarkably calm” and willing to talk about his sexuality and the LGBTQ+ community in general.

“I think, yes, it was hard initially. I mean, I was pretty okay with myself, but high performance sport and elite athlete environment are completely different to the public eye. So, yeah, it was pretty hard for me to come to terms with how it’s going to pan out. But I think it’s turned into a really good thing. I have been able to shed good light on the community and play the sort of role that people could look up to,” the hockey player expressed in an interview with Sportstar.

When the news got out, Atkin admitted that he “took time off” to think about his future in the sport.

“Yeah, I think that was definitely part of it, so, I took time off when it happened to think about it all. It definitely did come into my mind but it went away quickly as well because I had a really good support network around my athlete environment,” he shared.

Aside from playing hockey, the athlete is also interested in makeup, and he often posts beauty content on Instagram. In an article on ABC Everyday, Atkin noted that he considers makeup as a form of self-care, expressing:

“Make-up has always been something I’ve been interested in. I’ve been watching beauty content on YouTube for a long time now with my friends, but it took me a while to find the courage to make my own.

When I did, I realized how doing make-up provides such a good opportunity for me to relax and spend time for myself doing something I find really soothing. I get to just sit down and have a play, or just do a bit of pampering. I think that’s a way of reconnecting.”