#Team trans hockey

[chrissy-kaos]

Finally got to get out on the rink today. It was rough to say the least! I’m so out of shape.. maybe I need to go the gym again 😅

[hyenabeanz]

If any of the hockey nerds are on, Team Trans has been playing this weekend and the novice/intermediate championship game is supposed to start at 4:30 CDT and is being streamed here on Twitch

(There's audio, but they have to periodically mute it because corporations love to abuse copyright law to shut down videos for having incidental background sound)

[antsrust]

Hockey Player!James x Figure Skater!Regulus

These took me so long but I absolutely love how they turned out. I have a whole fic about them planned out in my head but I cannot be bothered to actually write it lol

[grantmentis]

Team Trans Twin Cities at the Minnesota Whitecaps Pride Game

[grey29]

One time I was trying to connect my phone to blutooth in a car and my ex tried to help by removing one of the devices because it was at capacity but they just deleted my phone that was listed under my deadname. I was like “why did you delete my phone???” and they looked all confused until they realized and said “ohhhhj I forgot that was you”. Surprisingly validating pre-hockey practice experience. I love people with bad memory who only knew me as my actual name because it’s so so funny watching them get all confused anytime my deadname comes up.

[againwiththeturtles]

still can’t believe chelsea dagger is the blackhawks’ goal score song or whatever. like yay! our hockey men got the puck in the net! ok now let’s remember that trans women are extremely epic and lovely.

[sammysonov]

ive been having a ton of feelings about this recently. maybe its because im reaching a point where i can medically transition soon or because i am interacting with new students in my school now who maybe dont know about our community or what but im just. it takes one person. it takes one person to make a change. and there's something beautiful in that

a sequence of Events. not crosby. not mcdavid. just one nhl player with no “reputation” and everything to lose.

[chrissy-kaos]

If you know.. you know. I hate washing my gear but I refuse to be the smelly one on the bench! But it’s almost that time and I can’t be anymore excited!

T-minus 4 days! 😁😁😁😁

[extraliga-related]

With everything that's been going on lately, here's a short non-comprehensive accumulation of things that could be called progress regarding relations between men's hockey and being queer:

The 🇦🇺 AIHL's Melbourne Mustangs, advocating for trans rights in sports since 2017, and the same team in 2023, donning pride jerseys designed by former goalie (and twin sister of Ty) Tia Wishart who is part of the LGBTQ community.

Jase Polglase of the AIHL's Central Coast Rhinos who puts pride tape on his stick every single game.

Robert Dowd and Marc-Olivier Vallerand having a dance after a win with the Sheffield Steelers.

Starting off with individual efforts, the 🇬🇧 EIHL has since extended their pride event to the duration of a full weekend following a conjoint initiative by the teams' fanbases in 2019.

Zach Sullivan, one of the few out queer athletes in the sport, felt supported enough by his team to come out as bisexual ahead of the Manchester Storm's pride game in 2020.

Danish goalie Jon Lee-Olsen came out as gay a year prior and was reportedly supported by his teammates.

The 🇸🇪 SHL lead the way, awarding the cause a full week since 2019 with elaborate campaigns and getting refs as well as coaches involved. It's a colorful sight.

While Pride Games are at present not an official part of the schedule, several 🇩🇪 DEL teams are joining in. Augsburg and Köln do their part, Berlin has one of the dedicated queer fanclubs and visibly stands against homophobia since at least 2016.

As of 2022 the entire league, as well as a growing number of clubs in the tiers below, cooperate with Hockey is Diversity e.V.. So does the Para Ice Hockey National Team, including Jörg Wedde, who also keeps pride tape on his equipment.

🇫🇮 Liiga's TPS added these stunning jerseys to the mix.

While all the aforementioned teams already wear the jerseys for at least one full game, IF Kiruna of the Swedish 3rd league stepped it up several notches. In 2014 they've decided to wear rainbow jerseys for a full season in support of the LGBTQ community. Since then they've made the rainbow a permanent fixture in their logo and club identity.

___

Plenty of clubs out there hosting events where queer people are given a platform and shown support in a multitude of ways that aren't merely empty words.

And even if it's not part of general discussions within a league, you've got voices who are willing to speak up.

[perception-sets-it-fair]

Riding the BKDK train

(All BakuDeku explicit fics with happy endings)

One or both are pro heroes

Fraycheck by surveycorpsjean Katsuki and Izuku get sent on a sketchy assignment and are hit with a quirk that changes everything- aka red string of fate/soulmates/forced proximity. 

Everything you don’t know by Mikacrispy Izuku wakes up in a hospital and can’t remember anything past middle school. How will he adjust to the present, where he apparently is a pro hero who has an agency with Katsuki? Wait till he realizes they aren’t just roommates. 

Bring me home by ContraryBee Izuku comes over to Katsuki’s apartment a lot and makes himself at home. Katsuki is into it. Getting together/ domesticity kink. 

The regulars by hardwood_Studios pro hero Bakugo meets barista Deku and is smitten. Too bad he doesn’t date pro heroes.

now i see everything in a different light by nikkiRA Pro hero Katsuki finds Izuku to apologize for his behavior towards to quirkless man back when they were in middle school. He didn’t expect Izuku to have gotten so hot. 

Fantasy settings

The reefer and the shark by red_emerald Reef dwelling but curious Izuku meets sharktailed Katsuki. Courting, size difference, merfolk getting it on. 

Reflecting by fitzrovia King Deku with a difficult past reunites with long lost childhood friend.

To have all the time left in the world by mayhemrea Crown Prince Bakugou Katsuki of Aldera gives up everything to end a war by agreeing to marry  Crown Prince Toshinori Izuku of the Yuei Empire. Angst, politics, and princes banging. 

Other Aus

 Symbiosis by offclsyn tattoo shop owner Katsuki. Trans Izuku. Reunited childhood friends.

Fight Me by Mikacrispy  Izuku just wants to dance, if only this gym bro would leave him alone. In which sprung Katsuki doesn’t know how to hit on someone properly.

In perfect rhythm by chalk  Izuku gets locked out of his apartment and knocks on his neighbors door, leading to him befriending the super hot musician Katsuki. 

Just for your love (i’ll give you the world) thunderpoint Katsuki confesses and Izuku insists he shouldn’t hold back. Thus begins them confessing constantly yet refusing to date like a bunch of weirdos, much to the exasperation of their classmates.

The boyfriend theorem by imnotpoppunk Omega Katsuki is on the college hockey team and dealing with discrimination. Grad student Izuku tutors him. White lie leads to fake dating leads to…

fic rec post 1 , fic rec post 2

[karlkapri]

The Pugilist

Joe Nelson, Fan films unreal view of Vancouvers Kyle Burroughs hammering Wilds Brandon Duhaime | Ariel Glucklich, Sacred Pain: Hurting the Body for the Sake of the Soul | Canucks Army, Analyzing what the Canucks might like about Wild forward Brandon Duhaime | Mikki Tuohy, NHL Trade Rumours: Will the MN Wild Trade Brandon Duhaime? | René Girard, Violence and the Sacred | Kayla Hynnek, Brandon Duhaime Brings It Every Night For The Wild | Max Bultman and Dan Robson, The mental toll of hockey fighting goes beyond getting ‘punched in the face’ | Joel Auerbach via Getty Images | Anne Sexton | Kayla Hynnek | 1 Corinthians 4:9 | Bultman and Robson | Catherine of Siena, The Prayers of Catherine of Siena (trans. Noffke) | Tyson Cole, Analyzing what the Canucks might like about Wild forward Brandon Duhaime | Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, The Martyrdom of Saint Matthew (c. 1599-1600) | Bultman and Robson | Joe Smith, ‘Vintage Flower’: Behind the scenes of Marc-Andre Fleury’s emotional night in Wild’s win | George Bataille, Guilty (trans. Bruce Boone) | Toni Calasanti, Feminist Gerontology and Old Men | Becoming Wild: Brandon Duhaime via YouTube | Cole | Eimear McBride, The Lesser Bohemians | Cole | Vitor Munhoz, NHLI via Getty Images | Elly McCausland, 'Mervayle what hit mente': Interpreting Pained Bodies in Malory's "Morte D’Arthur" | Capfriendly: Brandon Duhaime Injury Updates | Calasanti | McCausland| Kenneth Hodges, Wounded Masculinity: Injury and Gender in Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte DArthur | Becoming Wild: Brandon Duhaime | Dieric Bouts, Christ Crowned With Thorns | David Berding via Getty Images | Bataille | Brandon Duhaime vs Will Borgen Feb 24, 2024 | Michael Russo and Joe Smith, Brandon Duhaime traded by the Wild: Why they moved him, and what he adds to the Avalanche | The Winter House (2022) dir. Keith Boynton | Joe Smith, Wild’s special teams deliver, Fleury exits early on ‘Fight Night’: Key takeaways vs. Panthers | Vibeke Olson, Penetrating the Void: Picturing the wound in Christ’s side as a performative space | Joe Smith, What Brandon Duhaime’s deal means for Wild salary-cap situation and Filip Gustavsson talks | Girard | Ocean Vuong, Devotion | Caravaggio, Sacrifice of Isaac (1598) | Bultman and Robson | Bultman and Robson | Bultman and Robson | Amelia Arenas, Sex, Violence and Faith: The Art of Caravaggio | Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov | Girard | Michael Russo and Joe Smith, Wild GM Bill Guerin working phones ahead of trade deadline, no regrets over training-camp extensions | Concannon, “Not for an Olive Wreath, but Our Lives”: Gladiators, Athletes, and Early Christian Bodies | Matt Blewett - USA Sports | Michael Russo and Joe Smith, Wild trade tiers: Who is on the block? Who could be dangled? Who is untouchable? | Thornton Wilder, Our Town

[ginger-fitzgeralld]

A transgender woman who sued a women-only social media app for alleged gender discrimination has been awarded $10,000 plus costs after a judge found she had been indirectly discriminated against in a landmark decision that tested the meaning and scope of the Sex Discrimination Act.

Roxanne Tickle, a transgender woman from regional New South Wales, sued the women-only social media platform Giggle for Girls and its CEO, Sall Grover, claiming she was unlawfully barred from using the app in 2021 after the firm and Grover said she was a man.

On Friday morning, federal court justice Robert Bromwich said the respondents considered “sex” to mean the unchangeable sex of a person at birth.

“These arguments failed because the view propounded by the respondents conflicted with a long history of cases decided by courts going back over 30 years. Those … cases established that on its ordinary meaning sex is changeable,” he said.

Onboarding to the app required the user to upload a selfie verified as female by KairosAI gender detection software and then by Grover. Tickle was barred after initially being allowed to join the platform – which was shut down in August 2022.

The judge said the evidence did not establish Tickle was excluded from Giggle directly “by reason of her gender identity although it remains possible that this was the real but unproven reason”.  Rather, the indirect discrimination case succeeded because Tickle was excluded from the use of the social media app “because she did not look sufficiently female”.

Bromwich disagreed with Grover and Giggle’s arguments about the constitutionality of the protections for gender identity in the Act – in line with the position of the sex discrimination commissioner.

Tickle had sought damages and aggravated damages amounting to $200,000, claiming that persistent misgendering by Grover resulted in constant anxiety and occasional suicidal thoughts.

In his written decision, Bromwich drew attention to the behaviour of Grover, including laughing at a caricature of Tickle during the trial.

“[Grover’s] explanation, that it was funny in the context of the courtroom, was obviously disingenuous. It was offensive and belittling and had no legitimate place in the respondents prosecuting their case.”

Tickle said Friday’s decision showed transgender people could stand up for themselves.

“I’m pleased by the outcome of my case and I hope it is healing for trans and gender diverse people. The ruling shows that all women are protected from discrimination,” she said outside court.

“I brought my case to show trans people that you can be brave and you can stand up for yourself. I can now get on with the rest of my life and have a coffee down the road with my friends, play hockey with my team and put this horribleness behind me.”

Changes to the Sex Discrimination Act in 2013 made it unlawful under federal law to discriminate against a person on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or intersex status.

It is the first time alleged gender identity discrimination has been heard by Australia’s federal court and goes to the heart of how gender identity – and being a woman - is interpreted. The outcome is likely to have wide-reaching implications for male and female spaces and activities and is being watched around the world.

Over the course of a three-day hearing in April, the court heard that Tickle had lived as a woman since 2017, had a female birth certificate and gender affirmation surgery and “feels in her mind that psychologically she is a woman”.

Tickle’s barrister Georgina Costello KC said that “Ms Tickle is a woman” but that “the respondents flatly deny that fact”.

Giggle and Grover’s team asserted that the case must focus on biological sex.

“Sex is discriminatory, it always has been and always will be … biological sex must prevail,” barrister Bridie Nolan said.

Grover told the court that she would not address Tickle as “Ms” and that, even if a transgender woman presented as female, had gender affirmation surgery, lived as a female and held female identity documents, Grover would still see her as a “biological male”.

The court heard that Grover started the app, intended as an “online refuge”, after receiving trauma therapy for social media abuse while living in the US.

The Australian Human Rights Commission acted as a friend of the court. Barrister Zelie Heger told the court that sex was no longer defined in the Sex Discrimination Act but that “importantly the Act recognises that a person’s sex is not limited to [being a man or a woman]”.

The case has been closely followed by both women’s and trans rights supporters, with Bromwich admitting “this was never going to be an easy case for anybody”.

Tickle received support from the Grata Fund, while a crowdfunding campaign set up to cover Giggle for Girls’ legal costs raised over $520,000.

Ignoring the tone of the article because I haven’t found a non-biased one yet, I’m so fucking over this shit. I’m disappointed in our court systems and what this precedent will mean for the rights of girls and women across the country.

[ronandhermy]

Hot Take: Check Please doesn’t deconstruct toxic masculinity in hockey, it applauds it.

Zimbits as MLM Comphet

Bitty perfectly slots into traditional housewife role, with enough “boys can be feminine” + “contempt for women / women can only exist in this ethereal heavenly state of godhood (see: Beyoncé)” flavor that I’m convinced we have a case of fujoshi self-insert genderflip on our hands.

The whole premise of “hockey player likes baking” is consistently played for laughs. People liking Bitty’s baking, a trait the comic frames as feminine, is portrayed as a humbling and emasculating experience, and a constant punchline throughout all four years.

Women in Check Please can only exist if they’re “one of the guys”

Lardo is called by a derogatory (and frankly racist) nickname and is the bossy team manager who is framed as being cool only by virtue of being masc. From the moment she’s introduced, her whole thing is that she is “the manliest bro – who happens to be a woman”.

Foxtrot proves her character worth the moment she demonstrates that she can yell loudly and run a tight ship and be dominant with the guys. And that’s kind of it.

George has a masc nickname, and that’s her character.

Even so, all major women characters only ever appear in subservient roles to men, never being equals. All of them are PoC, too, which is an even worse look.

Women in Check Please can only exist if they’re not like other girls or effeminate gay men.

Bitty is also not like other girls

Bitty is consistently portrayed as inherently unique and special by the lone virtue of being queer, despite being at a school where supposedly one in four students is queer. Outside of Bitty and three “twist” queer characters, everyone is neatly heteronormative (even characters like Lardo, who are afforded no femininity in their personality, are paired up neatly into a cis-hetero couple).

In Year 4, we briefly see Bitty argue with the other varsity captains over who has the gayest team. This too, is never elaborated on, conserving Bitty’s status as being unique as a queer person at Samwell.

What follows then is a facade of a queer narrative, in which the cisheteronormativity of the setting can comfortably continue to exist without being disturbed by the presence of queer characters. What it pretends to do is infuse the narrative with queerness; what it really does is dress up a cisheteronormative narrative in pride colors and call it progressive.

Trans people don’t exist

Despite being at a school where supposedly one in four students is queer.

That’s it, that’s my point.

The closest you get to any transness is how the above-mentioned female characters can only persist in the narrative by adapting to the men’s behavior, something they are applauded for, for not being appalled by.

Jack’s abuse gets brushed over

The moment he shows softness towards Bitty, all of Year 1 is forgiven and forgotten.

Dude yelled at the main character and made him wanna quit hockey, when Parse comes to Samwell, Shitty points out that even compared to his “usual bitchiness” (which Shitty also excuses, btw) the way Jack treated Parse scared him. This is later both retconned and justified by the narrative (see 4.19).

Kent Parson Can’t Have Feelings

He can only exist in the story to be an obstacle to Jack, any and all of his raw outbursts are framed as him being petty and bratty. Any deeper sensitivities he might have are framed as weaknesses (being closeted in the NHL, still having feelings for Jack).

His “redemption” consists of Bitty one-upping him. When he comes to Samwell to talk to Bitty, he is only there to be humbled for what he did wrong (having complex emotions he wasn’t able to express calmly). Bitty is portrayed as the hero for emasculating him (making him like his pie) and that humbles him into submission.

Whiskey’s closet story

Both Jack and Whiskey are set up as stoic, masc and talented at hockey, so the reveal that they are queer is played as a big twist in both instances. Despite the comic banking on the premise that “yes, you can be a queer man and play hockey”, here are two instances where the comic betrays its own premise. (Three if you count Parse.)

Whiskey, like Parse, is not afforded any internal emotionality. His demeanor is portrayed as cowardly and duplicitous for not wanting to be out and proud like Bitty, and his closed-offness is, by virtue of the comic being told through Bitty’s lens, framed as disdain. He, like Parse, is framed as a villain because he has feelings.

Misc: 

The infantilization of Chowder. Chowder is constantly referred to as Bitty’s baby boy, by virtue of his somewhat-clueless outward demeanor, and being Asian.

The hazing. I didn’t think I would have to go into this, but apparently people love to downplay the fact that Bitty bullying the rookies in his senior year is not only questionable at best, but also illegal.

Bitty has no political stance despite being queer. His parents are most likely Republican, which is never addressed; he never unpacks his Christian upbringing, despite being queer in a traditional Christian family, and when confronted with the fact that Dex might be Republican, he frames Nursey as the one being silly for bringing up this conflict.

Shitty’s performative liberalism. Shitty plays into the stoner hippie archetype by flinging about a bunch of feminist theory, but is never actually shown actively doing anything to deconstruct the environment of college hockey. When Jack flies off the handle at Bitty, he excuses it. When Jack refuses to partake in hazing (likely because of his addiction?) he calls him a wimp.

I don’t count Farmer as a major character because she appears in two panels and has no speaking parts, but she, too, falls into the “just one of the guys” category.

Anon I love you and you are CORRECT.

Adding to the Zimbits as Comphet point: Bitty says his mother is his best friend yet we know next to nothing about her aside from her homemaking skills. According to a tweet (so not actually canon) she does have a job but we never know what it is. And we see time and time again Bitty belittle his mother's recipes or brush off her hurt and concern (such as when she thought it was her jam recipe Bitty was sharing with NHL players). It's played for laughs in the comic but just makes Bitty look selfish, entitled, and self-centered (oh wait, that's what he is). Bitty never acknowledges his own bad behavior because he lives in the mentality of once a victim always a victim. Which, I would argue, Jack begins to fall into as well the deeper his relationship with Bitty gets.

Which we're not even going to get into Bitty's vlog and twitter where he took private conversations and blasted them to the public. Because the internet is public.

Also the fact that Bitty, despite not being out until Samwell, manages to out all three other queer characters in the comic, either through his vlog or vague (not very well) posting on his twitter: Jack, Kent, and Whiskey. And isn't that telling that not even in this supposed queer comic are 1 in 4 characters queer. I'm talking canon, not fanon. The actual canon.

Great ask/post anon!

[chrissy-kaos]

I took a very very long car ride to this old barn today! Gosh is it beautiful! My friends and I came out to this event to help @teamtrans-icehockey with a learn to skate. It was a blast. I haven’t been here since my college days. Still looks gorgeous! There’s something to be said about playing hockey in an old barn like this.. it’s 😍🤌🏻🫶🏻

[trans-evan-buckley]

winter sport au, you say? 👀👂

Ahhhh!!

So Buck is the first trans skater to make it to Olympics, and Tommy is a goal keeper for team USA’s ice hockey team, and they meet during Beijing 2022 when Buck is threatening another skater with his skate for hitting on one of the younger skaters.

Tommy wants to know more about him so he asks around and ends up finding out that Eddie, his teammate, knows Buck, so he asks him to introduce them. The two of them end up connecting and hitting it off, and spend the next couple of weeks together whenever they’re both free. They even attend each other’s events when they can, and Tommy falls in love with the way Buck skates.

When it comes time to head home, the two of them are determined to stay in contact, only to find out they both live and train in LA.

Buck has a Grand Prix season starting and his theme this year is “crush”, which he keeps saying is a reference to someone he met recently that he has feelings for, and it’s all about yearning and longing. Tommy doesn’t realise it’s about him and backs off, because he’s worried that he’s making Buck uncomfortable. Buck has no idea what he’s done wrong and his performances start taking on a more desperate look that his fans start noticing.

Eventually, Eddie forces the two of them to talk because Tommy’s performance is struggling and he can tell he’s not sleeping well, and Buck has to reveal that his routines were about Tommy. The two of them get together and everything is good for a while.

Then, Buck is skating in the Grand Prix final when he falls and dislocates his knee, promptly ending his career just as it was taking off. The rest of the au is about the aftermath of Buck’s injury and Tommy helping him recover.

[grantmentis]

A lot of women’s hockey news and I wouldn’t be able to fit everything into screenshots so here is a summary

Most of these from Angélica Rodriguez, Erica Ayala, and Anne Tokarski’s twitter threads

-league looking to start in January, can go as late as may/June

-this year will be shorter and 24 games but should be 32 going forward. In future years season will start in November

-no team names or logos yet

-15 round draft, with a draft lottery, to determine who picks when, and then will be snake format.

-each team can sign 3 players before the draft, and then can fill out the rest in free agency after the draft

-players have until Sept 3 to declare for the draft on Sept 18 in Toronto

-rights of players are held on to for two years after draft, then they can re-enter the draft but the maximum amount of times they can be drafted is twice

-players can be traded this season, draft picks cannot be but will be starting next year

-players pool is 300~ players right now for who’s being contacted but players outside that pool can still declare for draft and aren’t necessarily uneligible

-the league has no plans to do a franchise model and right now mark and Kimbra Walter are the sole investors

-no rinks decided yet for games or practices it seems and multiple rinks may be in play in markets at least for this season. Says it’s possible New York team will actually play in jersey or Connecticut for some games. Nhl collaboration expected and wild writer Michael Russo says xcel energy center expected to be used. AHL and OHL rinks also considered

-no news on streaming but goal is to have all teams streamed

-transgender inclusion policy is being worked on but no collaboration plans with other orgs who specialize in trans rights were stated

-players may submit a Compassionate Circumstance Waiver Request that if the league approves allows them to be considered to only play in one specific market. The team(s) in that market would be the only ones allowed to negotiate a deal but wouldn’t be obligated to sign that player. (Not clear what would be required for that waiver to be approved but I imagine it may be in the CBA)

-CBA is here https://global-uploads.webflow.com/64d22f9c3617ad42d10d32f1/64ed721629f3b2cfe84c7a54_PWHL-CBA-thpwhlcom.pdf (I would like to summarize this as well when I am off work)

-11-13 full time staff for teams not including front office members