Rugby becomes first sport to make “ultimate statement in equality “

Completely agree @Datun I think it’s exactly that. Mostly it’s not done with evil intent, it’s done from ignorance & because let’s not forget stonewall & mermaids are very very good at what they do I.e. persuading public bodies & big corporates that they MUST do this and if they paying them vast amounts of money the problem will be solved for them

The doubling down however is unforgivable

Kit19 Is your DH aware of the transgender policies in hockey?
Scottish hockey transgender policy. English hockey's policy is identical. Both dated 2017.

FannyCann

Those graphics! It's utterly insane.

Just been discussing more with DH who it seems is finally seeing the light. His view is they’re terrified of being taken to court and that they’re more scared of being taken to court over this than over players being injured because this is an unknown area to them whereas sporting injuries is a known territory. I raised the issue of safety & insurance & he said that he doubts ppl involved in those areas get involved in stuff about inclusion & diversity. Honestly it’s been a very depressing conversation....

At least he’s now looking up what hockey says about trans people bearing in mind mixed sex hockey is already a thing

Honestly knowing how it works in DH sport (hockey) rule changes like this would be seen as a box ticking exercise & I’m certain they thought no one would actually do it

I'm sure this is the explanation for a lot of it, to be honest. People tick a diversity box, an inclusion box, a Stonewall box and think job done.

Without realising that it leads to perverted men suing beauticians for not touching their cock. Or rapists in female prisons. Or violently folding women like deckchairs.

They're not lawyers, mostly they're not feminists, and they are not aware.

That is, of course, changing as women raise awareness.

People are already becoming aware that places like Stonewall, mermaids, Gires, etc, are having the word controversial attached to them.

That Foxy Fighter page has suggested responses for the child on the bottom.

Honestly knowing how it works in DH sport (hockey) rule changes like this would be seen as a box ticking exercise & I’m certain they thought no one would actually do it

I think that's what happened, but these are full policy documents, and they are not new.

Welsh Rugby 3 pages dated 2016.

English Rugby 8 pages dated May 2019. Earlier version from 2017

Scottish Rugby 12 pages, August 2018

World Rugby 21 pages. March 2019

It's interesting that they think equality means men should be allowed to take part in all events rather than women should be treated equally.

Meanwhile in Canada the brain washing ramps up.

twitter.com/preta_6/status/1165003291916296192?s=21

Chances anyone picked it up who wasn’t directly involved would be really small

I’m assuming the rugby club in question had an idea from seeing stuff in the media & went to see if it was permitted....

Honestly knowing how it works in DH sport (hockey) rule changes like this would be seen as a box ticking exercise & I’m certain they thought no one would actually do it

When there are rule changes in hockey they get cascaded out from the international or national body to the umpires & regional associations & the clubs a few times a year. They’re always making little changes. They would might send out a press release for a big rule change like when they got rid of offside on hockey. Chances that anything but a single line in a multiple rule change bulletin went out are very tiny.

Sky sports commentator has tweeted about it saying all the rugby pros he works with are appalled

How come they've only just realised that this is allowed under their rules? All their organisations allow men to play in women's teams as long as they state that they have a 'female gender identity' and their testosterone is below 5 nmol/l (10 nmol/l for the WRU).

Sky sports commentator has tweeted about it saying all the rugby pros he works with are appalled

In other words, loads of men who would normally have just let it go felt provoked into saying something. It does make Jolyon Maugham, and his claim that most people agree with him, look pretty foolish.

Smart as paint, that Janice.

I see India W has popped up on that twitter thread. Strange mixture of distancing themselves from the decision but based on the fact they're s woman.

Nice try love, but no thanks.

Yeah, Janice knows how to set the bait.

Glad she did.

Bit like Jack Appleby's tweet a while back where he asked men why some of them "got it" while others did not, in terms of a gender critical position on trans ideology.

Framing it that way appealed to the egos of some men who were glad to explain that yes, they got it because of the clear lack of logic or reason inherent in the ideology. They were proud of being able to see through the inherent contradictions and there were hundreds of replies.

He's got nearly 7m followers!

Also: how very clever of Janice Turner to post a tweet saying that some men were laughing at this and asking men who don't think it's funny to say something. As a result, lots and lots of men replied saying they thought it wasn't funny. And of course Piers retweeted in support, and so that went to his one million followers, many of whom then agreed with him.

In other words, loads of men who would normally have just let it go felt provoked into saying something. It does make Jolyon Maugham, and his claim that most people agree with him, look pretty foolish.

If you're complaining about this specific case, then write to the WRU (Welsh Rugby Union), not the RFU, which governs the sport in England.

There does seem to be an association between the WRU and Stonewall, though I don't know if they've received Stonewall training:

www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/pride-cymrus-big-weekend-important-16810321

Fantastic to see! Sport England does count as a public body, and whilst I appreciate theRFU don't rely on funding from Sport England, the WRFU might do. As I say, I'm not au fait with the governing structure and finances of rugby union. Perhaps someone who is could help?

@SlowasaSnail Looking at sport England website they link to stonewall and have commissioned research from pride sports on lgbt issues www.sportengland.org/research/understanding-audiences/sport-sexual-orientation-and-gender-identity/

RFU don’t rely on sport England for income, they just get grants for specific projects from them now & then

I don’t know if sport England counts as a public body fir the purposes of FOI 🤔

As far as Kellygate is concerned, it’s the WRFU that would be responsible

If so it might be worth a FOI request to Sport England asking for a copy of their Equality Impact Assessment on trans inclusion in rugby.

Someone made this request a couple of days ago to the UK Sports Council.

www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/equality_impact_assessment_re_tr

Janice Turner has tweeted about it.

twitter.com/VictoriaPeckham/status/1165239707112017920

"It's hard not to conclude that some men are enjoying this. They're amused that women are losing places in their own teams, that women get splattered in contact sports or 40-year-old mediocre ex-men beat young female weightlighters. If you DON'T think its funny, say something".

Julia Hartley-Brewer has retweeted all of Janice Turner's tweets and Piers Morgan has replied to Janice:

twitter.com/piersmorgan/status/1165242094287560705

"I don’t think it’s funny. I think transgender women born with male biological bodies should not be allowed to compete against women born with female biological bodies - or it will destroy women’s sport. That doesn’t make me ‘transphobic’, it makes me sensible".

Vast majority of people agreeing with him.

Seems to be getting mainstream traction now.

I’m more of a League girl so excuse the ignorance but does the RFU get money from Sport England? If so it might be worth a FOI request to Sport England asking for a copy of their Equality Impact Assessment on trans inclusion in rugby. IME most governing bodies will take the easy path to inclusion (eg Stonewall written policies) but if faced with a slew of admin over FOI requests, it might start a bit of critical thinking internally.

I don’t know if anyone has mentioned this but the RFU links to mermaids and stonewall on it’s trans policy page

And GIRES and gendered intelligence.