Bowie Rowan
@bowie · 1:26
#TransAtWork | Talking with Team Trans hockey player Scout Fleckenstein (they/them)
So no pressure, scout, but I am so happy to have you here on Swell to have a conversation about your experience as a hockey player on Team Trans and just to learn more about you and your experience overall. Thank you so much for being here with us
Bowie Rowan
@bowie · 0:41
I would love to start out by just learning a bit more about you and your story generally. So first of all, what pronouns do you use? And if you feel comfortable sharing, how did you discover which pronouns felt best for you? And what was it like to understand yourself, to be someone who is trans in the world? And what has that process been like for you generally in your life, either personally or in workspaces? Yeah, I think that's a good place to start
Bowie Rowan
@bowie · 1:15
And was hockey something that you were always interested in playing, or were you more drawn to the community experience? And hockey just happened to be kind of part of that
Bowie Rowan
@bowie · 1:53
I first understood myself to be nonbinary and trans just a handful of years ago at this point, even though before that I knew myself to be queer. But it's been really interesting to see how much my queer and trans community has grown so much more in just the last few years as so many more of my friends and acquaintances and just connections in all parts
Bowie Rowan
@bowie · 0:42
Lastly, there's a lot of cultural conversations happening right now in relation to trans people in sports, which is another reason I was just so stoked to learn about Team Trans and to have the opportunity to speak with you as well. I'm curious what you hope for the future of sports and the lives of trans people, not only in sports, but also in different kinds of work and recreational spaces
Swell Team
@Swell · 0:15
Once I understood myself as trans, I felt like I could finally sink fully into my feminists and feel secure in that in a new way that I could feel secure knowing that even if I don't want hormones or I don't want surgery at this point, that I could still be trans. As far as work goes, I work at a special ed elementary school as a teaching assistant. I've been there for seven years, and I really love it
Hello. So I grew up in Washington state and went to a grand total of one hockey game as a kid. It just wasn't a part of the culture in in my childhood. But I moved to Minneapolis in 2013 after I graduated from college, and over the past ten winters now, I taught myself how to skate just on the ponds, you know, every winter. So in the winter of 2022, I was pretty lonely
Hi. I feel so able to give of myself and to dive headfirst into learning and making mistakes and falling down and trying new things because I don't have to worry about people misgendering me, wondering if people are going to get who I am specifically. We went to the first All Trans Draft tournament last November, which was held in Madison, Wisconsin, and that was life changing for me
I hope people can have access to spaces where they feel safe and able to fully express themselves. Obviously, I believe that trans folks have a lot to offer the world. And I just hope that the world can slow down for a second and listen
Bowie Rowan
@bowie · 1:45
Scout, thank you so much for sharing more of your story. First of all, happy pride. I am so stoked to be celebrating this week by listening to your story and also, Just, it gave me so much joy to hear about your experience and also particularly when you described the social aspect of going to a bar and being surrounded by all of these beautiful, hot trans people. I know exactly the feeling you're describing based on my own particular community experiences like that