Harrison Browne

Harrison Browne (born May 13, 1993) is a Canadian LGBTQ activist, actor, filmmaker, author, and former professional ice hockey player. Before transitioning, he was a centre for the Metropolitan Riveters and Buffalo Beauts of the National Women's Hockey League.

Early life and career Browne was born on May 13, 1993, in Oakville, Ontario. He started playing ice hockey at nine years old. As a young adult, he attended Appleby College in Oakville. While he was on the school's team, they won two Ontario championships. Browne was a member of the Ontario provincial team that gained the silver medal at the 2011 Canada Winter Games.

He was assigned female at birth and played in women's competitions during his ice hockey career; he came out publicly as a transgender man in 2016 and was the first openly transgender athlete in a professional team sport during his career. About coming out, he said:

I came out publicly in 2016, when I was playing the NWHL. But I had come out in college, already, I think either my sophomore or junior year. I was probably 20 years old when I came out to my teammates at that time. I was always known in the women's hockey world as "the trans man playing on the team," it just wasn't public knowledge at that point. But I did come out four years prior to coming out publicly [as a professional athlete].

Hockey playing career

Junior Before entering college, Browne played in the Provincial Women's Hockey League. In the 2009–10 season, he led the Hamilton Jr. Hawks in scoring with 22 goals and 48 points. He moved to the Mississauga Jr. Chiefs the following year.

Collegiate Browne received a scholarship to Mercyhurst University and made his NCAA debut on September 30, 2011. With the Mercyhurst Lakers, Browne scored five points in 34 games. In the 2015–16 season, he played in 18 games, scored 5 goals and had 12 points. He played in 5 games in the NWHL postseason, scoring 2 goals and 2 assists.

On May 14, 2016, Browne signed a second one-year contract with the Beauts. In October 2016, Browne came out publicly as a transgender man and thus became the first openly transgender athlete in professional American hockey; he had previously privately disclosed his gender identity to coaches while playing at Maine. Browne stated that he would not hormonally transition until the end of his professional playing career, as the hormones involved in female-to-male gender transition violate anti-doping regulations.

Playing for Team Kessel, Browne scored two goals at the 2nd NWHL All-Star Game.

On March 14, 2017, Browne announced he would be retiring from the NWHL at the end of the season to begin hormone replacement therapy and continue his gender transition in privacy. On March 19, 2017, Browne won the Isobel Cup with the Buffalo Beauts, becoming the first openly transgender athlete to win a national championship on a team sport.

Metropolitan Riveters On August 7, 2017, he announced he would be putting his retirement on hold and would instead return for the 2017–18 season with the Metropolitan Riveters. On April 25, 2018, Browne won the NWHL championship with the Metropolitan Riveters in the team's first Isobel Cup win.

On April 30, 2018, Browne again announced his retirement from the NWHL.

International

Browne played for Team Canada at the 2011 World U18 Championship, winning the silver medal.

Post-retirement Since his retirement from the NWHL, Browne has primarily devoted his time to speaking engagements across North America. He has given talks and spoken on panels at colleges, such as Ohio State University, American University, and Fleming College as well as LGBTQ events, such as Outsports Pride.

In 2025, Browne and his sister Rachel released a non-fiction book titled Let Us Play about transgender inclusion in sports.

Acting career

In August 2019, Browne announced on his personal Twitter account that he was beginning a new career as an actor. He emphasized that he plans to advocate for more transgender visibility in his new venture as he had in his athletic career.

Browne has made multiple television appearances since his 2018 retirement. He was featured in an episode of both Y: The Last Man and Murdoch Mysteries, in 2021 and 2022 respectively. In 2023, he appeared in three episodes of the mystery drama series Nancy Drew.

In 2024, Browne began developing a short film, incorporating elements of his own life into the story, and gaining funding on Kickstarter. The film, Pink Light, premiered in the Short Cuts program at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. About why he created the film, he said:

It really came from feeling a bit frustrated at the types of trans characters that I was auditioning for, and not feeling like I was getting the opportunities that I wanted to tell a really deep trans story. So I was like, "Well, I gotta create this myself." Then, when it came down to writing it and directing it, I started to really fall in love with that process. The process of directing, in particular, I didn't realize that I would really enjoy.

In 2025, Browne had a minor role in the episode "Rose" in the breakout Canadian LGBTQ+ hockey romance series Heated Rivalry. His character Connors is a member of the fictional team the Boston Raiders, captained by lead character Ilya Rozanov.

Hockey career statistics

Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 2008–09 Oakville Jr. Ice Prov. WHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2009–10 Hamilton Jr. Hawks Prov. WHL 28 9 9 18 55 — — — — — 2010–11 Mississauga Jr. Chiefs Prov. WHL 31 14 16 30 54 — — — — — 2011–12 Mercyhurst University CHA 32 3 2 5 12 3 0 0 0 2 2012–13 University of Maine HE 33 2 4 6 38 — — — — — 2013–14 University of Maine HE 30 3 7 10 49 — — — — — 2014–15 University of Maine HE 33 7 10 17 34 2 0 0 0 0 2015–16 Buffalo Beauts NWHL 18 5 7 12 26 5 2 2 4 10 2016–17 Buffalo Beauts NWHL 17 2 4 6 22 2 0 0 0 2 2017–18 Metropolitan Riveters NWHL 16 3 6 9 8 2 0 1 1 0 NWHL totals 51 10 17 27 56 9 2 3 5 12

International Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM 2011 Canada U18 5 0 0 0 8 Junior totals 5 0 0 0 8

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes 2020 Keep Your Condolences Frankie Short Spelled Liam Short 2021 On the Fringe of Wild Peter 2022 A Shade of Blue Sawyer Short 2023 Playboy of the Dundas Western World Tumnus Short 2025 The Bearded Girl The Masked Cowboy Maya & Samar Richard Pink Light Scott Short. Main role; also director and writer.

Television Year Title Role Notes 2021 Y: The Last Man Silas 1 episode 2022 1 Queen 5 Queers Self Panelist; 1 episode Murdoch Mysteries Fink 1 episode 2023 Nancy Drew Cameron 3 episodes 2025 PeopleWatching 2 episodes Heated Rivalry Connors 2 episodes