It turns out Transgender Student-Athletes And they’re not the only ones having to contend with politicians preventing them from participating in the sport, now adult cross-hockey players are facing challenges too.
Starring Harrison Brown fierce competition and is the first openly transgender professional hockey player to speak out against USA Hockey’s new eligibility policy, which doesn’t ban transgender athletes outright but makes it nearly impossible for them to compete in recreational leagues.
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Back in November, USA Hockey, hockey’s national governing body that oversees U.S. participation in the Olympics, quietly released a new eligibility policy, but when Brown found out about the news yesterday, he immediately took to Instagram to remind his followers of the latest anti-trans rule.
“USA Hockey basically told me I couldn’t play in a recreational league with my friends that I’ve played with my entire career,” Brown told PRIDE. “I just think it’s crazy.”
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The new policy, which updates a more inclusive version from 2019, will take effect on April 1, 2026, with strict rules on who can participate in youth, youth, disabled and adult hockey leagues. Under the updated policy, transgender athletes will still be able to compete in co-ed leagues, but in gender-only leagues their gender will be limited to the sex assigned at birth.
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“In all sex-restricted sports, athletes may compete in such sports only according to their sex assigned at birth, except that women (sex assigned at birth) may not compete in women-only sports if they have received any male hormone therapy,” the policy reads.
This means trans women will be forced to play in men’s leagues, while trans men will have to play in women’s leagues, unless they take testosterone, in which case they won’t be allowed in either space.
“The safest spaces I’ve found are queer spaces, women’s spaces,” Brown said, explaining that forcing trans women to play in men’s leagues is not safe because they are still subject to “homophobic and transphobic language, both on the ice and behind closed doors in the locker room.”
While not an outright ban, the new policy would make it nearly impossible for transgender hockey players to compete in any league overseen by USA Hockey, which includes less competitive recreational leagues often referred to as “beer leagues” by players.
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Women’s hockey leagues across the country are having to grapple with new policies, and some have taken to social media to assure players they are looking into what it means for them. this Seattle Women’s Hockey Club wrote on Instagram“To our transgender members: The Board of Directors firmly believes that our community is better with you in it. Hockey belongs to anyone who has ever picked up a stick or cheered for a team, and that includes you, no matter what USA Hockey says.”
Brown blames President Donald Trump for this shift from a fairly inclusive transgender participation policy to one that could actually prevent many transgender athletes from playing hockey. “We cannot ignore the fact that: [Trump] The government is putting a lot of pressure on sports organizations to take a stand against trans participation in sport,” he said.
Brown said Republicans often claim their focus on transgender women in sports is because they care about equity, but that argument is specious and ignores larger issues in the sport.
“Trans women, trans people are not the issue here,” he said. “It’s socioeconomic status, it’s opportunity. If you have access to better coaching, if you have access to better facilities, better equipment, better nutrition, you’re automatically going to be a better athlete. The hormones in people’s bodies have very little effect on their athletic ability.”
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This article originally appeared on Pride: The Rivalry’s Harrison Brown says new anti-trans hockey policy is ‘crazy’ and blames Trump
