An influential non-governmental entity in the United Kingdom is working to put competition rules in place which would apply to biological men who “transition” to female, as they compete in women’s sports.
The Daily Mail reported on documents it viewed that detail the plan:
Documents seen by the Mail on Sunday reveal that Sport England has offered up to £25,000 to consultants to consider the competition rules for elite-level sport to take account of transgender issues.
The project is being overseen by an LGBT activist who has promoted claims that women raising concerns about trans policies are ‘hate groups’.
The changes are likely to fuel concerns among sportswomen and feminist campaigners that male-bodied competitors will be allowed to dominate women’s sports.
The Mail reported that the idea for transgender men to compete in female sports has been causing controversy in the public square as some sports figures speak out on the issue, including Olympians Sharron Davies and Daley Thompson, who have raised concerns about “the possible unfairness of making women compete against larger, stronger trans women.”
And in some contact sports like rugby there are also safety concerns about men going head-to-head with women.
The Sports Council Equality Group, which includes Sport England, Sport Wales, Sport Scotland, Sport Ireland and UK Sport, is behind the Domestic Competition Guidance, “which is focused on all domestic (within the UK) sport competition, up to a level of international qualification,” the Mail reported.
“The document reveals that before the new competition guidance is in place, new pro-trans rules will target grassroots sport:”
Sport England is also releasing Transgender Facility Inclusion Guidance that addressed grassroots sport and physical activity participation, so the Domestic Competition Guidance that will be “inclusive of transgender and non-binary people.
“This piece of work will support the sports sector in the decisions it makes around trans inclusion in domestic and elite competition,” a Sport England spokesperson said in the Mail article. “It will provide guidance based on best practice, but decisions about competition, whether at domestic or international level, will always be for the individual sports and international federations themselves.
“It had been commissioned by the Sports Council Equality group – a cross sector group which works together to support sports organizations and their work on equality and inclusion,” the spokesperson said.
“I agree with equality, but not if by pursuing the equality agenda too aggressively you undermine sporting competition,” Tory MP Tom Hunt said in the article. “Where someone born a male but identifies in their own mind as female and still has male characteristics such as greater strength, that could undermine a sport. I would be concerned about that.”
The transgender project is under the direction Labour Party member Jamie Hooper who is also an official with Sport England and who has promoted a Labour Trans Rights pledge card “which calls feminists ‘hate groups’ and demands their removal from the party,” according to the Mail.
Follow Penny Starr on Twitter
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.