Barbara Hall, chief commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission, called forcing minor hockey leagues to accept transgender players a “milestone”.
Hockey Canada has agreed to change its rules to allow minor hockey players in Ontario who identify as “transgender” to choose which dressing room to use.
The change comes following a human rights complaint from a 17-year-old female hockey player, Jesse Thompson, who says she now identifies as a boy and wants to change in the boys’ room.
“I’m just a boy. I’m just like any other kid out there growing up. I’m just a teenager,” Thompson told the Canadian Press.
The Ontario Human Rights Commission states in a press release that not only will Hockey Canada have to allow girls who say they are male to use the boys’ room, and of course, boys who say they are female to use the girls’ room, but it is required to give “gender identity and gender expression” re-education training to everyone who has anything to do with minor hockey in Ontario.
The commission also states that coaches and players will be required to address the player by his or her preferred name and pronouns.
Chief Commissioner Barbara Hall said the changes to locker-room policy enjoined on Ontario’s minor hockey leagues is “another great milestone in our search for an inclusive society rooted in respect for our diverse lives and experiences.”
LifeSiteNews asked Hockey Canada’s communications manager Francis Dupont if the OHRC ruling, which only applies in Ontario, will be implemented in the minor hockey leagues in the rest of Canada. Dupont replied that Hockey Canada does not intend to apply the dressing-room ruling anywhere but in Ontario.
This article originally appeared Sept. 17 at LifeSiteNews.com and is used with permission.
