Welcome to most powerful women. Thank you. Your first one. So I'm going to start with a I just said to Jessica backstage I said I'm going to I'm going to start with a very general question. Answer it however you like. Okay, Jessica, What's your story? What's my story? Very broad question indeed. I grew up in a conservative town I wasn't exposed to much diversity when I was young. I knew that I felt different but I didn't know what it was. And it wasn't until high school that I could I learned what it was to be transgender and That there were options out there for me that I could transition. So shortly after high school I took some time off to try and figure out what I needed to do to be happy in my life. I went to a university, I began transitioning which is not the easiest process but Completely worth it and in 2015 I had gender affirmation surgery and it was the best thing I could have ever done in my life. Shortly after that, I decided to follow my passion which previously was hockey and I played in a recreational league. And that summer and then that winter I decided to play as high level as I could and I tried out for the Toronto furious and the CW HL and I made the reserve roster that year and then the next two years I've played on the full roster. Wow, that was good. That was really good, your life in a minute or so. [ LAUGH ] That's very interesting. So when you join the [ UNKNOWN ], no one on the team knew that you were transgender, is that correct? That's correct, yes. And was that stressful for you to be on this team with these best women hockey players in Canada? And them not to know your truth. At first I didn't think it was stressful. I didn't realize until after I came out how much stress I had been living under. I knew that I had worked my **** off. I knew I deserve to be there with them I knew I had the talent and skill and the work ethic to play with them. But, after I came out, it was like a weight had been lifted. I had one less thing to worry about. People finding out and I could just be me. I didn't have to worry about what I said about my past and it was really freeing. So, why and how did you decide to come out? I decided to come out because there is real need for visibility and representation and the LGBTQ + community. I came out to my team. I first told my coaches. And then I had them call a team meeting before one of our practises, and I had a speech prepared for my team with everything that I wanted to say, and I just told them all and left the room for them to digest the information that they had, that I had given them And shortly after they came out gave me hugs showed support. That's really, the best reaction that could have wanted. Wow. Did you not give your speech? You just said it and you didn't give your speech? I kind of had my notes in front of me and it was kind of reading from it. So I gave my speech I said everything that I felt that I needed to say in that moment. Did some of them know or think that you might or was this a surprise to everyone? As far as I know, it was a surprise to everyone. There was one player on my team who was from the same hometown as me. So I Think she may have known at some point, but I hadn't told anyone previously. What did you worry about coming out? What was the worry? The worry before coming out was that I would be rejected. I was worried how people would react Not necessarily the public but the people that were close to me, my hockey team, my family, my friends, I worried what they would think of me if they would reject me if they would. They wouldn't support me and if I would be able to continue to do the things that I loved. Did anyone reject you? No one close to me rejected me the only hatred I received was from, you know, online trolls trying to bring me down tell me that I didn't deserve to play with the people that I played with and really dis valuing all the hard work I put into it. Of course people online I mean and and How do you handle that? Do you respond to that? Do you go, do you still tweet Do you? How do you handle that horrible online traffic? For the most part, I ignore it. There's the hard time where I'm feeling especially sassy well, I'll respond to it, but. For the most part, I ignore the negativity because a lot of these people, there's no getting through to them, and I'm not gonna change their mind, so I try to be the bigger person. So you had a big disappointment recently, and tell this group what happened with the Canadian Women's Hockey League. Well, I believe it was March the Canadian women's hockey league folded which was absolutely devastating because it had become essentially my whole life besides my full- time job and my fiance I was at the gym five days a week running five days a week. Practice three days a week in Toronto, away all weekend for games. So it was essentially everything I did. So why did it fold? It folded because they said it wasn't economically viable for the long- term. Which I understand, it might not have had the most successful business model, and didn't grow as much as The skill of the players deserved for it to grow. So hopefully, we're gonna build something better, and set a sustainable future for young girls, so they can dream about playing hockey professionally. So we're gonna open it up in a second. I'm gonna ask you one question about this community. So Jessica drove in about an hour and a half from . Where do you live? What's your town? Kitchener .>> Kitchener from Kitchener, Ontario. And this morning she drove in and I said why did you decide to come and she was interested in this Communities she is very interested in helping what are on the diversity inclusion and inequality front. But very specifically what can this community do to help bring Equality to the transgender community and maybe help with this new hockey players association that you're starting. Well, this community has a lot of influence. And I think it's important as leaders to be able to. Use that influence to, create positive change. We have the ability to create conversations in places that don't typically have those conversations. This is why I came out as a transgender athlete. I wanted to create a conversation in the sports community, where they don't typically have a conversation about. A transgender athlete and kinda get the ball rolling on that. And Proctor & Gamble clearly is taking the lead on that. And what did you think of their commercial? I thought it was a great commercial, it seemed very genuine to me, which was awesome to see because positive representation is everything. But everyone can do that. Evertyone has marketing budgets here. So let's open it up, would does anybody have a question, comments? In the back right there? Yes? Hi my name is Tonya [ UNKNOWN ] and first of all thank you for being here. I think you have courage. Beyond what many of us can even understand so. This is a very personal question but can you talk a little bit about before coming out and you know, going kind of this whole period of exploration of who you were as a person. How did that affect you in the day to day world? Like good or bad? In the day to day world before coming out, When I was trying to figure out who I was, I suffered through a lot of depression, some really dark times and a lot of self hatred. It wasn't until I truly accepted who I was, and learned how to be my authentic self, that everything changed for me, I started to actually see a future for myself and a future that I wanted to live. So, I was pretty negative before and once I fully embraced who I was everything kind of flipped upside down for the better. How did your family handle this? My family was terrified to tell them but they have become some of my. Most, some of my strongest supporters, my parents instilled upon me from a very young age, to be to work hard, be positive, never give up and I can achieve anything I set my dream I can achieve anything I set my mind to me because of my parents. It's really shaped who I am as a person today. It's come around again and again and who I am. And then what I do from working endlessly to being a professional athlete. From my full time job, from speaking in front of an incredible room of people such as. Such as you all here. Everything I am and everything I do is because of my parents. There's a great video. What is about, eight or ten minutes long? Yeah, it's about that, yeah. Yeah, if you look up Jessica Platt, like YouTube, you'll come to this video. It's like a little short film. It's really great and The director or the filmmakers interview your parents. Yeah. And I just found your dad. So like, just so he was so he has a lovely about it. He has a way with words He does, and what did he say to you when I can't remember what he said in the video. I mean it was very moving, just, you'll have to watch it. So what are the lessons from what you experienced? Are there life lessons that you take out of this? That's really important to have a strong support system. My friends who Obviously I chose were very supportive of me. My family turned out to be incredibly supportive, which, obviously I was going to be a little bit worried about at first. But most importantly, I've learned that I'm really lucky to be who I am. A lot of people might not consider me lucky because I enter hatred on almost a daily basis from strangers. People who don't know anything about me. But I honestly believe I'm lucky because I know who I am and I know what I stand for I stand for equality, I stand for people who can't, I stand for people who don't feel like they can share their voice, and I hope that they find strength in mine. And we live in a world now where we can choose, right? Yes. Yeah, and we can live our truth? Yes. Who else has a question, anyone else? Yes, over here. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] Hi, Pam Moore. And again, I share the thanks for sharing your story. Jessica, I guess all of us come from a, I would like to believe all of us come from a place of good intent. And do you have any words for those of us who are trying to create inclusive environments just things that we should just be thinking of That maybe it seems so obvious to you, but maybe not to us. Right, just be open and willing to learn new things. Be accepting and receptive if someone comes to you with sensitive information, But I mean bear in mind these are leaders of some of the biggest companies in Canada, the United States the world these are women with, who oversee a lot of people. And whether they're in HR or marketing or running a company or running a division. They have a lot of ability to change, make major changes in diversity and inclusion, so I don't know should they be doing what Procter and Gamble is doing? Should they be? I mean any Yeah, definitely. I know. Positive representation is important. It's something I keep coming back to. But my fiance and I at home we get absolutely thrilled when we see, for example, a same sex couple on TV, not just because we see someone that It's like us. We, we see that a company is accepting we see that, they're progressive we see. We see positivity we see them willing to make a change. When you get married Summer 2021 probably. Fantastic. Congratulations Jessica. Thank you for being here. Thanks for having me. Yeah. [ BLANK_AUDIO ]

Equity: On and Off the Playing Field

Sports

Jessica Platt is the first transgender woman to play in the Canadian Women’s Hockey League.
