Mason Lefebvre said that growing up, he felt out of place playing hockey. But the goalkeeper transitioned in 2016, and now he’s one of more than 150 members on the Team Trans ice hockey team, believed to be the first all-trans and nonbinary sports team in the U.S.
Lefebvre said the team helps provide “a sense of community.”
“I never understood the concept of found family until I joined Team Trans,” he said.
For safety reasons, the team doesn’t publish players’ personal information, but Lefebvre said the support it provides has saved lives.
“There are players who have told me outright that they wouldn’t be around anymore without Team Trans,” he said. “I’m glad that we were able to help them, but I hate that we’re in a space where they needed that help.”
Jayce Moe, who learned how to skate just two years ago, said even if they can’t change what’s in other people’s hearts, the players are lifting themselves up.
“Probably the biggest thing I’ve learned from this group is that we’re all human, we’re all gonna fall,” Moe told CBS News. “And what really makes us a classy operation is that we’re a team of people who get back up again and keep going.”
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