Vancouver

IT happens all the time: Young gay people leave their small towns and head to the big city, where they can find love, acceptance and, in Canada at least, a curling league to call their own. Yes, the winter sport that involves ice, round rocks and a good deal of sweeping has a passionate following among those who have come out of the closet, taking their brooms with them.

They are men such as Brock Endean, 27, the scion of national curling champions who grew up playing the sport in the rural British Columbia village of Chase, population 2,500. "When I walked down the street, I was the entire gay pride parade," said Mr Endean, a consultant.