Transgender former CFL player says attending B.C. Lions ceremony as authentic self was 'euphoric'

When the B.C. Lions said they were going to honour their 2000 Grey Cup championship this fall during a halftime ceremony at B.C. Place, Maven Maurer was excited but anxious.

Maurer had been a member of the plucky underdog team, the first to ever win the CFL championship after finishing the regular season with a sub-.500 record. 

The days leading up to the Sept. 13 ceremony were a roller-coaster. Maurer hesitated to buy a plane ticket until the day before the ceremony, unsure if attending the event as a transgender woman was a good idea.

Not wanting to let fear get the best of her, Maurer flew to Vancouver and walked onto the field at B.C. Place as her authentic self. She described hearing the cheers from the 20,000 people in attendance as "euphoric."

"When I played, I wasn't really able to soak all of that in," Maurer told CBC's On The Coast. "I wasn't able to really enjoy it as much as I would have liked, and to be able to have an opportunity to do that again ... it was so special."

She described her reunion with old teammates as "truly healing."

"[I was] welcomed with open arms, smiles, hugs, you name it," Maurer said. 

"So many said, 'You know what, we're proud of you. We're family. We bled together, we sweated together and achieved … this really cool achievement."

Maurer played 13 CFL seasons as a fullback and special teams player with stops in Saskatchewan, B.C., Ontario and Alberta.

The CFL believes Maurer is the only openly transgender former professional football player in league history, according to a spokesperson.

"While we can't speak for the NFL, we are unaware of similar examples," the spokesperson added. 

Mauer is proud of her CFL career. She said she is tied for second place all-time for most special teams tackles in a season, with 35, and is among the all-time leaders in special team tackles.

Maurer appears in sports records under her birth name, but she hopes that will change. 

She said the Canadian Junior Football League, where she played for the Regina Rams, is working on switching to her chosen name.

Maurer told CFL news website 3DownNation that her transition followed "a near-death experience." She made her first public reference to her transition on social media in June of last year.

She told CBC's On The Coast that her journey was one filled with "struggle and darkness."

"I think the biggest thing for me was I wasn't really aware that this was a possibility, I guess you could say," Maurer said.

"That's part of the reason why I'm standing up, just to raise awareness. Communicating and talking about it is the answer. The more people that are aware, they might not have to go through the same struggle."