In November, USA Hockey quietly approved a new policy that will prohibit transgender athletes from participating in hockey programs that are classified by sex, including adult recreational “beer” leagues.

The new participant eligibility policy, which was approved on Nov. 15, 2025, and will go into effect on April 1, 2026, states that, “In all programs where participation is restricted by sex, athletes are only permitted to participate in such programs based on their sex assigned at birth, except that a female (as assigned at birth) may not play in programs restricted to females if they have undergone any male hormone therapy.”

This policy is exclusionary, damaging, and directly contradicts USA Hockey's longstanding slogan "Anyone Can Play." 

Please join us in maintaining a safe, welcoming environment for the entirety of the LGBTQIA+ community within the hockey world (and beyond). Barring trans individuals from these spaces essentially bars them from hockey entirely, and we find this to be completely unacceptable.