Close X
Wednesday, November 13, 2024
ADVT 
National

Hockey Player Who Pushed Ontario On Transgender Inclusion Hopes For More

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 08 Sep, 2016 12:33 PM
    Jesse Thompson wanted transgender inclusive policies for hockey dressing rooms to be implemented sooner and for them to be Canada-wide, but says an important first step is happening in Ontario.
     
    The 19-year-old from Oshawa, Ont., got the ball rolling on transgender inclusion in 2013 when he filed a human rights complaint in Ontario against Hockey Canada.
     
    Ontario's minor hockey branches agreed in 2014 to change dressing room policies and to educate personnel on transgender inclusion.
     
    The new policy states that "players who identify as trans can use the dressing room corresponding to their gender identity, be addressed by their preferred name and pronoun, and have the privacy and confidentiality of their transgender status respected.''
     
    Full implementation is going to effect this 2016-17 season. 
     
    "I'm very happy about it," Thompson told The Canadian Press on Thursday. "It took a long time."
     
    Thompson felt being forced by a minor hockey league official to change in a separate dressing room during the 2012-13 season "outed" him and exposed him to harassment and bullying.
     
    "Sometimes I would get really bad anxiety before hockey because I didn't know what the convener was going to do or if someone was going to say something," he said.
     
    If the atmosphere didn't change, Thompson said he would have quit hockey.
     
     
    He shared a dressing room with his teammates in his final season of minor hockey in 2013-14 and said his gender was a non-issue.
     
    "I think the biggest problem was going to be the parents, not so much the kids," he said. "Hockey started becoming more fun for me again."
     
    Minor hockey branches outside of Ontario have yet to adopt transgender policies. The issue hasn't been tabled for discussion yet at Hockey Canada's annual general meetings, according to a spokeswoman.
     
    Thompson hopes minor hockey associations across Canada will take on transgender inclusivity before it goes to human rights tribunals or the courts.
     
    "Sports are what kids use to get away from things when they're stressed out," he explained. "Hockey is sometimes the only place you can escape your school, your parents, stuff like that.
     
    "I feel like adults are always saying kids need to have hobbies so we don't get into trouble, but then they're kind of taking it away from us because of how we are."

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Toronto Area's Home Sales, Average Prices Hit Record Highs In August

    Toronto Area's Home Sales, Average Prices Hit Record Highs In August
    The Toronto Real Estate Board said its members had 9,813 sales in August, a 23.5 per cent increase from the same month last year, though there were two more working days this year.

    Toronto Area's Home Sales, Average Prices Hit Record Highs In August

    $3 Million In Jewels Missing From Drake, Future Tour Bus

    $3 Million In Jewels Missing From Drake, Future Tour Bus
    Police Sgt. Vince Lewis says the theft occurred Tuesday night at the Talking Stick Resort Arena in downtown Phoenix, where the men were performing.

    $3 Million In Jewels Missing From Drake, Future Tour Bus

    Calgary Judge In 'Knees Together' Case Has Worked Hard To Change: Mentor

    A Manitoba judge says she was initially appalled by the comments a Calgary judge made to a sex-assault complainant but agreed to mentor him.

    Calgary Judge In 'Knees Together' Case Has Worked Hard To Change: Mentor

    Half Of Working Canadians Living Paycheque To Paycheque, Says Survey

    Half Of Working Canadians Living Paycheque To Paycheque, Says Survey
    TORONTO — A new poll suggests that about half of working Canadians would be hard-pressed to meet their financial obligations if their paycheque was delayed for a week.

    Half Of Working Canadians Living Paycheque To Paycheque, Says Survey

    Man Posed As U.K. Diplomat As Part Of $30,000 Fraud Of Ont. Woman: Police

    Man Posed As U.K. Diplomat As Part Of $30,000 Fraud Of Ont. Woman: Police
    Police say a Brampton, Ont., man — Taiwo Gbolade — is scheduled to appear in Newmarket, Ont., court on Sept. 29 to face charges of fraud over $5,000 and possession of property obtained by crime.

    Man Posed As U.K. Diplomat As Part Of $30,000 Fraud Of Ont. Woman: Police

    Jamaican Finally Deported But Damages Urged For 5-Year Immigration Detainee

    Jamaican Finally Deported But Damages Urged For 5-Year Immigration Detainee
      In seeking compensation for Alvin Brown, lawyer Jared Will accused Canada Border Services Agency of negligence in removing his client from Canada.

    Jamaican Finally Deported But Damages Urged For 5-Year Immigration Detainee