Whitehorse Womens Hockey League embraces transgender males

Chase Blodgett says the potential to lose his hockey community was a major source ofstressduring his gradual coming out as a transgender male.

It was kind of a vulnerable process to come out to my team, says the 29-year-old,who came out to his family this summer, then to his wider group of friends on Facebook in the fall.

The Whitehorse Womens Hockey League has made it slightly easier with a new policy that says it welcomes any player who was born or identifies as a woman.

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Ateam picker someone whoselects players forteams Blodgett sayshe was doing his preamble before a game, handing out jerseys, when he delivered the news.

I kind of stopped and just said to my team, Well, OK, theres something that I should be open and honest with you guys about and thats that Im in the process of gender transitioning from female to male and I use male pronouns and I would appreciate it if you guys would honour that. And the dressing room was just totally quiet.

Blodgett says he looked up and saw his barber, with a huge grin, nodding.

So I just said, 'OK, you guys wanna make lines?' We made lines and went out and skated and a couple of weeks later, the team voted me in as captain.

Dressing room for changing, drinking beer

It wasnt controversial. It just seemed like the right thing to do, says Michelle Rabeau, whos with the league, of the new policy.

Were a womens league and we want to make sure that were keeping the spirit of that, so its more about changing how we definewhat woman means and I think we did that well.

The policy is straightforward: anyone who was born or identifies as a woman is welcome. That includeswomen that identify as male or males that identify as female.

This does not mean a person who was born a man, who lives their life as a man and who says, Im a woman on their registration form, for no other reason, than to play with us, reads the FAQ. Also we dont think this scenario would ever occur.

The policy also downplays any physical advantage that could be achieved by a transgender female. We are not the kind of competitive league where this would be an issue, it says. If any player is dangerous on the ice, we will address their individual behaviour regardless of their gender identity.

As for changing rooms, the league says it will deal with issues as they arise, but its not central.

The change room is for changing, drinking beer and talking shit about the other teams, the FAQ reads.

Rabeau says shes been told the policy is progressive, but she doesnt look at it that way.

It feels like it should be commonplace for any kind of sports club, and if its not, we hope that others follow suit.

Dynamic league

Blodgett says hes done some research and couldnt find any adult recreational leagues in the country with a similar policy. Frequently the policies that are set are to allow someone like me to play as a male.

The Whitehorse Womens Hockey League is described as one of the most dynamic recreational sports leagues in the city.

Blodgett says theres something special about theWWHA community thats hard to understand if youre not part of it, and its not all about gender.

This is my first season playing net, so I think the team was more worried about whether or not I could actually stop the puck than my gender identity.

• On mobile? Hear Chase Blodgett and Michelle Rabeau in conversation with CBC North's Dave White