There are two huge conversations going on right now in the PWHL.

The first is around transphobia. Britta Curl-Salemme has been under fire since she was drafted for some tweets she made, specifically regarding LGBTQIA people and keeping trans women out of women’s sports.

She “apologized” at the time. Since then, she did a piece in the Athletic where she said she was just “bookmarking the tweets for later”. She also notably did not walk back her comments about trans people in sport and insisted that she was concerned about “fairness”. She recently made an instagram post collab with Fierce Athlete which claims to be “promoting true femininity in sport” and features slogans such as “Two sexes. One truth”.

USA hockey recently updated their participant policy to exclude trans people. When it comes to activities divided by sex, players are not allowed to play in a category which does not align with their gender assigned at birth. For trans men that are on hormones, they may not play in either the men’s category OR the women’s category.

I’m cis but I’ve met so many amazing trans people while becoming a part of the PWHL fandom. I am currently reading Let Us Play by Harrison Browne and Rachel Browne to learn more about the issue and how I can support the Trans community.

The second huge problem is ICE, particularly in Minnesota, where the Minnesota Frost and Britta Curl-Salemme play. The arena has held moments of silence for Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and Kelly Panek has spoken out about the issue. Yet, there have been reports of fan signs being taken away at the arena. The PWHL has not spoken out against ICE and Mark Walter has investments in ICE detention facilities.

On the surface these might seem like two unrelated things but they are actually deeply related. Both are about questioning “who belongs” and invading privacy. There is often a lot of overlap when it comes to trans people and defining “whiteness”. When people talk about protecting “true femininity”, they are often imagining a white girl with long hair.

A few years ago, I was at a PWHL Boston game at the Tsongas center. I was waiting in line for the women’s restroom. The lady behind me asked me “if I was sure I was in the right line”.

I tried to figure out why this bugged me so much. I don’t think she meant it maliciously. But at the same time, I wasn’t sure why she thought I would be a man. When have you ever seen a man accidentally waiting in line for the women’s restroom? I have short hair sure, but I present in a pretty feminine way. Was it because I wasn’t white? Why did she assume I wasn’t a woman?

Women’s sports is often viewed as an extremely progressive space, but I find the women’s hockey space to be different from women’s basketball because it’s so white. Despite being the PWHL’s biggest fan I have always felt like an outsider, either because I didn’t grow up playing hockey, or I’m not white. I have been disappointed by the PWHL and the women’s hockey community when it comes to standing up for trans rights, and condemning ICE.

I am still trying to figure out how to best support the community. But one thing I can do is make short-form video… so that’s what I’m doing for now. <3

I don’t know if this is obvious, but ice and keeping trans people out of sports are really related. In both cases, you’ve got people policing who can be in a space. And it goes deeper than that.

Because you might think, on the surface, like, “Oh, it’s just about trans people.” And then it’s like Black and brown people. But there’s so much overlap there.

When you hear people talking about “protecting femininity” in sport, okay—what does femininity look like? Because most of the time, it’s like a white girl with long hair.

When I was at a PWHL Boston game, like two years ago, I remember I was waiting in line for the women’s restroom. And the person behind me was like, “Oh, are you sure you’re in the right line?”

And I’m like, “Am I sure I’m in the right line?” Like, I have short hair, but I feel like I’m giving woman.

So I’m just standing there thinking, “Well… what about me is making it seem like I’m not a woman? What about me is making it seem like I don’t belong here?”

Because I’m probably the biggest hockey fan in this entire arena. So yeah— I’m not sure if this is obvious, but it’s all related.