The First Transgender Hockey Team
An all-transgender team played at a scrimmage in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in November. This tournament was hosted by Boston Pride Hockey, an LGBTQ organization that has both cisgender and transgender members.
This game occurred because a player reached out to Boston Pride Hockey and asked about their relationship with New York City Gay Hockey Association. Hutch Hutchinson discussed creating space for a transgender team. With the discussion finalized, the transgender team was granted space to play. Mark Tikonoff (President of Boston Pride Hockey) said, “We have a few trans members, but not enough to make an entire team, so we started to reach out.”
After receiving many responses, the group organized the event. Team Transgender lost to Boston Pride Hockey in both games. However, even with the loss, many players and families believed it was a great experience.
“We as trans people fight either big battles or little battles every day,” Hutchinson said. “This was an opportunity to walk into a locker room, and we didn’t have to explain anything to each other--we’re here, we are trans, this is great.”
Platt, is transgender player who played with Toronto Furies in the Canadian Women’s Hockey Players Association. Regarding this event Platt said, “We need more knowledge, more education, and for people to go into these things with an open mind and be willing to learn something that they might not be familiar with.”
by Emilie Chi