Jessica Platt (born May 8, 1989) is a Canadian former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player and an advocate for

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

rights. She played for the

Toronto Furies The Toronto Furies were a professional women's ice hockey team that played in Toronto, Ontario, as members of the Canadian Women's Hockey League. The Toronto Furies played their home games at the Mastercard Centre in Toronto. The team was establish ...

in the

Canadian Women's Hockey League The Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL; ) was a women's ice hockey league. Established in 2007 as a Canadian women's Senior ice hockey, senior league in the Greater Toronto Area, Montreal, and Ottawa, the league expanded into Alberta (2011) and ...

(CWHL) and was the first transgender woman to play in the now-defunct league.

Career

Platt was drafted into the

in 2016 in the 61st overall pick and was invited to play four games for the

in the 2016–17 season when another player was injured. During the following season she played full-time.

Early life and transition

Platt spent her childhood in

Brights Grove, Ontario Brights Grove is a neighbourhood of Sarnia, Lambton County, Ontario, Canada. Brights Grove is located on the shore of Lake Huron. History The Owenite Project Brights Grove was the site of Canada's first commune. In 1829, Brights Grove was est ...

, and attended a Catholic secondary school for which she played hockey. After leaving high school, Platt started to undertake hormone replacement therapy in 2012, with full support from her family. She graduated from

Wilfrid Laurier University Wilfrid Laurier University (commonly referred to as WLU or simply Laurier) is a Public university, public university in Ontario, Canada, with campuses in Waterloo, Ontario, Waterloo, Brantford, Ontario, Brantford and Milton, Ontario, Milton. The ...

in 2014 and worked teaching children to ice skate on campus. Platt then joined a recreational league to return to hockey.

Public reception and recognition

Platt announced that she was transgender through

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

on January 10, 2018, following support from within the sports community. Platt was the first professional women's hockey player to come out as a transgender woman, and the second player in professional women's hockey to come out as transgender following

Harrison Browne Harrison Browne (born May 13, 1993) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who played for the Metropolitan Riveters and Buffalo Beauts of the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL). Early life and career Browne was born on May 1 ...

's coming out as a transgender man in October 2016 while playing in the

National Women's Hockey League The Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) was a women's professional ice hockey league in the United States and Canada that operated from March 2015 until June 2023. The league was established in 2015 as the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL), com ...

. Platt told sources that Browne was instrumental in her decision to announce her identity. In September 2018, Platt was recognized as one of Canada's Women of Influence's "Top 25 Women of Influence 2018".

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Platt, Jessica 1989 births Living people Canadian women's ice hockey defencemen Transgender sportswomen Canadian transgender sportspeople Ice hockey people from Ontario LGBTQ ice hockey players Sportspeople from Sarnia Toronto Furies players Professional Women's Hockey Players Association players 21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people 21st-century Canadian sportswomen