Transgender players win right to choose dressing room after human rights complaint

TORONTO -- Minor hockey players in Ontario are now able to choose a dressing room based on whether they see themselves as male or female following settlement of a human rights complaint against Hockey Canada.

The agreement, which also includes an educational component, is aimed at protecting young transgender players from discrimination and harassment.

Jesse Thompson, 17, of Oshawa, Ont., who filed the complaint in August last year, said he was pleased with the result.

"I just hope that kids can see this and know that they don't have to hide any more," Thompson told The Canadian Press.

"They can come out and play their sport that they love, and they don't have to stop playing it just because of how they are or who they are."

The new policy, which applies to all minor players in Ontario under the auspices of Hockey Canada, also calls for the organization to educate its trainers and coaches on discrimination and harassment as well as on gender identity and expression.

In addition, players are entitled to be addressed by their preferred name, as well as by the pronoun that corresponds to their self-identified gender.

For Thompson, an avid hockey player now in Grade 12, the issue became acute about four or five years ago when he hit puberty.

"I'm just a boy. I'm just like any other kid out there growing up. I'm just a teenager," he said.

"(But) once you get to a certain age, you are forced off into a different room, or basically a closet -- sometimes they didn't even have change rooms for girls."

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Transgender players win right to choose dressing room after human rights complaint