This post is not intended to argue against the failures the CWHL has made with respect to Jessica Platt and her announcement. However, I wanted to provide context for parts of this tweet, which I have seen a lot of confusion about.
The tweet reads: Today, the CWHL provides support in announcing the first openly transgender athlete to compete in the world’s most premiere women’s hockey league. #WeAreTheGame
The tweet links to this media release.
I’ve seen confusion over both the phrase “openly transgender” and “the world’s most premiere women’s hockey league”, so here is some context for both of these things.
The phrase “openly transgender” is used to avoid erasing past and current players who are transgender, but not openly or publicly so. You can see this phrasing used in many similar circumstances, such as:
Virginia's Danica Roem, the First Openly Trans Woman Elected to a State Legislature, on Her Historic Political Win
Andrea Jenkins Is First Openly Transgender Black Woman Elected in U.S.
Jessica Platt is not necessarily the first trans player in the CWHL. She is, however, the first openly trans player in the CWHL.
The phrase “the world’s most premiere women’s hockey league” is a piece of branding the CWHL has used for years. It’s all over the league’s website. Here are a few examples:
This support page. (Creation date unknown)
This meet-and-great announcement. (September 2012)
The first question in the FAQ on the 2017 Clarkson Cup page. (March 2017)
You can find examples of it used in the media at least as far back as 2010. For example, see this press release from Pointstreak, dated September 28, 2010 (complete with the old league logo). In particular, this passage uses the “most premier” phrasing.
You can find it in many other press releases as well. Here are two more examples:
This article from Canada West Universities Athletic Association. (November 2013)
This press release from Gongshow Gear. (December 2013)
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