Sports bodies have ‘no excuses’ on trans rules after court ruling: campaigners

LONDON – Campaigners have insisted that there are “no excuses” for allowing transgender women to compete in women’s sports events after a landmark legal decision in Britain on April 16.

The Supreme Court, which is the UK’s highest court, ruled that the legal definition of a “woman” is based on a person’s sex at birth and does not include transgender women who hold a gender recognition certificate.

The decision is a significant victory for gender critical rights campaigners and could have implications for participation criteria related to women’s sport.

Fiona McAnena, director of campaigns at the charity Sex Matters, welcomed the ruling, saying that it was crucial for fairness and safety.

“There are now no excuses for sports governing bodies that are still letting trans-identifying men into the women’s category,” she told the PA news agency.

“The judges mentioned fairness in sport this morning. The law was always clear that everyone male can be excluded to provide fair, safe sport for women and girls, but some people claimed it was unkind or complicated to do so.

“It’s neither of those – it’s essential for fairness and safety for everyone female.”

Transgender participation has become a hot-button issue around the world as different sports try to balance inclusivity with ensuring fair competition at the same time.

International governing bodies in a number of sports, including cycling, swimming and athletics, have tightened policies to effectively ban transgender competitors.

United States President Donald Trump

signed an executive order in February

seeking to ban transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports.

Former British swimmer Sharron Davies, who won an Olympic silver medal at the Moscow Games in 1980, has been outspoken over the issue, saying transgender athletes should not compete in women’s sport.

“I think it’s just really important that we can define what a woman is,” Davies told the BBC, saying it was time for sports bodies to “protect every female athlete”.

“It doesn’t mean to say that we can’t respect people across the whole of society, however they wish to present themselves. My position was always one that, biologically, women are very different from men.”

On the other side of the coin, trans rights campaigners said the ruling had worrying implications.

“Today is a challenging day, and we are deeply concerned at the widespread, harmful implications of today’s Supreme Court ruling,” a consortium of LGBT+ organisations, including prominent group Stonewall, said in a statement.

“We need to take the time to digest the full implications of the ruling and to understand what this will mean.” AFP, REUTERS