美国国家公共电台 NPR First Openly Transgender Professional Team Athlete Retires

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RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

We're going to bring you a sports update now from the world of professional hockey. A lot of eyes this season have been on a player named Harrison Browne, partly because of moments like this.

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UNIDENTIFIED COMMENTATOR¹ #1: All alone - scores.

UNIDENTIFIED COMMENTATOR #2: Oh, my goodness - what a breakaway goal by Harrison Browne.

MARTIN: But Browne has gotten more attention because he is a transgender man who plays in the National Women's Hockey League. That makes him the first openly transgender athlete in American professional team sports.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Now, until October, Browne was known publicly as Hailey Browne. And then on the day Browne's Buffalo² Beauts opened their season, Browne announced that he was transgender and would start transitioning.

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HARRISON BROWNE: I started feeling comfortable with the commissioner³, with my coaches and my teammates. And I just felt like I needed to do this for myself to feel comfortable playing in my professional life. Every time I go to the rink, I'm an athlete. I don't think of myself as a woman. I don't think of my teammates as women. We're athletes. We're teammates. And we're friends.

INSKEEP: Browne says support from his teammates and the league has been overwhelming.

MARTIN: Regardless, he's decided⁴ to retire at the age of 23, after two professional seasons. League rules don't let players undergo hormone⁵ therapy, including taking testosterone.

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BROWNE: I do want to start my life. I do want to start transitioning and seeing myself in the mirror the way that I see on the inside.

MARTIN: Browne is already planning his career off the ice. He'll pivot⁶ to a career in sports business, starting as an adviser⁷ to the National Women's Hockey League.

INSKEEP: But his playing career is not over yet. He's going to lace up his skates one more time tonight when the Buffalo Beauts play the New York Riveters in the league playoffs.

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BROWNE: Once the buzzer⁸ goes, all I'm focusing on is my next shift and my next period. I'm not really focusing on my upcoming retirement⁹. I'm just focusing on playing my best hockey, and hopefully, we'll win a championship.

INSKEEP: Harrison Browne, first openly transgender athlete in American professional team sports.

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