LGBTQ+ Community Responds Swiftly To Minnesota's Selection Of Britta Curl
Thousands of comments denouncing PWHL Minnesota's selection of Britta Curl poured in over social media platforms from fans, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and allies, with some saying they can no longer support the team and league.
It didn't take long for the confusion in Minnesota to turn to new emotions at the PWHL Draft, some positive, some not.
With controversy already circling the Xcel Energy Center in the State of Hockey, Minnesota added more fuel to the fire at the inaugural PWHL Draft when they selected Wisconsin captain Britta Curl 9th overall.
Retired professional hockey player and trans athlete Harrison Browne was one of the first to denounce the selection writing, "Women's hockey was my safe space as a trans person. Super disappointing to see someone enter the league that would make my community feel anything but welcome. Trans people belong in sports. Trans women are women."
When Minnesota announced the selection at 9th overall, there were audible boos from the home crowd in the Roy Wilkins Auditorium in St. Paul, Minnesota.
On the YouTube stream showing the draft, fans also reacted immediately to the selection in the chat. The PWHL's YouTube admin then posted a league statement saying "As an inclusive league, we will remain dedicated to ensuring a safe & welcoming environment for players, staff and fans. We acknowledge that individuals will have differing views on various topics, and not all personal perspectives will align with the values of the PWHL."
The "differing views" the PWHL are referring to are open support for transphobia and racism through social media posts and likes. Curl has posted in support of the exclusion of transgender women from sport and liked posts referring to support for transgender individuals and products as "perverted", and one stating that anyone who disagrees with Curl's views on the exclusion of transgender women are "weirdos." Curl liked another post mocking the use of inclusive language referring to individuals who can become pregnant, but who do not identify as women. Another post liked by Curl came from Italian politician Giorgia Meloni challenging among other things, gender identity. Meloni began her career in neo-fascist and post-fascist organizations, including openly praising Mussolini and publicly denouncing same-sex marriage and feminism, and supporting the "anti-gender movement"
Across YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and X, thousands of comments from fans flooded in denouncing the PWHL and PWHL Minnesota. On Reddit one transgender fan shared a screenshot of the email they sent to PWHL Minnesota cancelling their season tickets writing "As a trans person, I cannot, in good conscience, continue to hold my season tickets for next season, and would like to cancel them ASAP... As a trans person myself who has faced anti-trans discrimination both on and off the ice, choosing this as the pick -- and to be frank, doing so during pride month, while repping a rainbow logo -- shows me that PWHL Minnesota is talking the talk, but not interested in walking the walk."
As former intersectionality consultant for the NHL's Seattle Kraken and board member for the LGTBQ+ sports group the Alphabet Sports Collective, Chanel Keenan, posted on social media following the selection, "A lot of things can be true at once, you can be excited for future pwhl players, and feel like you’ve been kicked in the gut over questionable claims of diversity while simultaneously seeing a team draft an openly bigoted player. What a time. It’s all happening."
Curl also liked posts sharing conspiracy theories and highlighting the not guilty verdict for Kyle Rittenhouse who killed two people and shot another during protests of the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man. Curl also like another post about police killing a Black man. Many protests have occurred over the past several years surrounding police brutality and police murdering Black people in the United States. Perhaps the most famous of these protests occurred following the murder of George Floyd in 2020. Floyd's murder at the hands of police occurred less than 10 miles from the Xcel Energy Center, home of PWHL Minnesota.
Minnesota head coach Ken Klee, who ran Minnesota's draft table following the dismissal of Natalie Darwitz, was asked in post draft media availability if he consulted with the LGBTQ+ community prior to selecting Curl.
"Did I speak to anyone from the community? Um, I mean I talked with players, with coaches, um, I'm not, that's tough to answer for me. I spoke with a lot of different people," Klee said.