Hockey in general as well is pretty toxic. It's a sport that allows fighting, and full disclosure, I actually fucking love that about hockey, because there is a lot of respect in that culture.

But on the other hand, a lot of that also leads down a very toxic path. As a hockey player, that can be a fine line to tread – we're playing a very aggressive sport, but we can also be cool, except that’s just not the norm.

But the one thing that does keep me playing is Trans Wave, which is an all-transgender hockey team made of a small group of some locals here in LA. We've played in three tournaments together now, and it's such a wonderful experience.

Everyone on the team is transgender, non-binary, of some flavor. One of the reasons our team captain Tuck wanted to make this team was so that when you're on the ice, you could look out, and all of your teammates have a shared experience with you, in some way.

The experience in the locker room is amazing too -- it’s one of the first times I started to accept my body after coming out. My team captain Tuck, this dude is just getting changed in front of me, and was just so comfortable in their skin. And here I was still ashamed of myself.

So many people on the team were so comfortable in their bodies, that their level of comfort gave me comfort in my body, and they showed me that there's nothing wrong with me.

I was gushing forever after that first tournament, because it was a really magical experience for me. It really leveled things up for me in terms of self love and acceptance.

Anytime there's an opportunity to play with this group of people, I want to take it because I fucking love them. They're my family. It's great every time.

[As told to @Ragi Gupta — continued]