More Than a Game: The Fight for Gender Equality and Inclusion in Sports

Harrison Browne (he/him) is the first transgender athlete in professional hockey. He was part of the NWHL and played for the Metropolitan Riveters and the Buffalo Beauts. He helped form the first transgender policy in professional sports in North America. He is the appointed inclusion leader for the NWHL advisory board and special ambassador for the National Hockey League's Hockey Is for Everyone initiative. He is also a filmmaker whose short film Pink Light premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and an actor who recently appeared in the hit show Heated Rivalry.

Ridan Cunningham (he/they) is a member of the legal team* at Egale Canada, the leading Canadian organization for 2SLGBTQI people and issues. Ridan completed his undergraduate degree in Philosophy at the University of Toronto, where he was a Dean’s Scholar and received the Simeon Heman Janes Silver Medal graduating award. He earned his JD, cum laude, from Harvard Law School, where he was the Policy Director for the Harvard Prison Legal Assistance Project. After graduating, Ridan completed a clerkship with the Toronto Superior Court of Justice, before joining the litigation department of a leading New York law firm where his pro bono work focused on constitutional challenges to anti-trans laws. At Egale, Ridan assists the legal team with its work challenging laws and policies that restrict 2SLGBTQI rights.

Michele Krech (she/her) is an Assistant Professor at the Lincoln Alexander School of Law at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), where she teaches international law and feminist legal theory. Her research explores the regulatory authority and accountability of transnational organizations, the role of science and other knowledge systems in legal decision-making, and their intersections with human rights frameworks. In this context, Professor Krech has devoted significant attention to the regulation of gender in global sport. In addition to authoring numerous publications on the subject, she has participated in litigation challenging sex-based eligibility rules, including Caster Semenya’s case against World Athletics before the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and the subsequent proceedings before the European Court of Human Rights. She has also contributed to reports issued by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and Human Rights Watch, and serves as an arbitrator in the Athletics Canada Commissioner’s Office. Professor Krech holds a JSD and an LLM from New York University (NYU) School of Law, a JD from the University of Ottawa, an MA in International Affairs from Carleton University, and a BA in Global Development Studies from Queen’s University.

Ann Peel (she/her) is a lawyer and arbitrator adjudicating sport Codes of Conduct. Ann’s formative years were spent in the countries of the former Soviet Union, as the daughter of a Canadian diplomat. Returning to Canada at 13, completely disoriented by a lack of understanding of Canadian life, Ann embraced sport as a refuge. She ran the 400 and 800 until she found racewalking and competed for Canada. Ann led a campaign for the inclusion of women at the Olympics, specifically in the racewalk, but more broadly in all aspects of sport. While opening doors, Ann did well as an athlete, winning medals internationally, which led to her induction to the Museum of World Athletics, the Ontario and Canada Athletics Halls of Fame, and the Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame. Ann also led the founding of Athletes CAN, the first independent athletes association in the world. As Vice-Chair of Athletics Canada from 2014-2018 Ann led the establishment of the Commissioner’s Office to implement safe sport. Ann remains an advocate for athletes and for women in sport, particularly in the safe sport space.