This First Person column is the experience of Mel Brown, who lives in Montreal. For more information about CBC’s First Person stories, please see the FAQ.

I’m a huge hockey fan. I grew up on it. My family sat down in front of the TV together every Saturday night to have dinner, cheer for our teams (Go Habs!) and make fun of the ads.

It’s an experience shared by many Canadians. Yet, when people first find this out about me, they’re almost always surprised.

As a queer, non-binary person, the hockey community has not alw