New guidelines for transgender participation unveiled by UK sports councils

Thanks for posting.

Wow!

That's massive.

And eminently sensible. 3 reasonable options to choose from/ mix and match.

They state a commitment to inclusiveness in sports. And that they understand single sex may mean some TW can't join in (or at least not in the group many seem to want to).

Also reiterate the frankly bleeding obvious about males being physiologically different to females and in almost all sports males have an advantage that cannot be erased by reducing testosterone.

Seems like great news all round.

I suspect that there are a lot of unhappy people on twitter...

This is amazing! Is there a link to the scientific assessment and studies they collated? Sounds like a very careful and comprehensive review, and it’s very open and honest about the conflict! I love that there are suggestions to change formats, to have open categories- it’s hugely important that everyone who wants to play sport can do so. But the highlighting of competitive fairness is soooo refreshing - it’s not the same as validating, and it still matters!
One of the guardian reviews says

“ “However, an understanding of the gap between the two sexes can be recognised by results of practice matches between national senior women’s football teams against underage boys’ teams in recent years,” it says. “The national teams from Australia, USA and Brazil were beaten comprehensively (7-0, 5-2, 6-0 respectively) by club teams of 14- and 15-year-old boys.”

And:

““The difference in performance, even at the lower range of 10-12%, is not small in terms of competitive outcomes,” they add. “It would result in Adam Peaty being beaten by half the pool length in a short-course 100m breaststroke competition, Dina Asher-Smith by more than 20m in the 200m track sprint, and Sir Mo Farah being lapped twice in the 10,000m track race.“

These are excellent examples to use. These are not minor differences.

I think it's good news as it's making it clear there are three options to sports. & depending on which they choose will make them liable for the result. It also means women can make the choice about which sports to participate in by which one's prioritise their safety.

Is this good news of sorts?

I know they are basically saying it's up to you if you decide to disrespect and disadvantage women but at least it's there in writing and they can't say they didn't know or weren't warned especially if a female athlete is hurt or killed.

It's very clear that it's unfair to have males participate in female sport.

This really is passing the buck onto the sports bodies.

But it spells it out really clearly - and asks the question:

'Will you prioritise females or allow males to cheat'?

Here are some further key points from the review and guidance:

There is no one solution to suit everyone. The guidance recognises there needs to be different solutions for different sports, so it is about acknowledging the needs of different groups.

For many sports, the inclusion of transgender people, fairness and safety cannot co-exist in a single competitive model.

If a sport governing body considers transgender inclusion, fairness, and safety are all priorities, then a model for decision-making around the best options and opportunities should be developed.

Evidence indicates it is fair and safe for transgender people to be included within the male category in most sports.

Competitive fairness cannot be reconciled with self-identification into the female category in gender-affected sport.

There are likely to be times in which some transgender people cannot or choose not to be registered, either in the short or long-term, within sex binary categories..

'Case-by-case' assessment is unlikely to be practical nor verifiable for entry into gender-affected sports.

Some governing bodies will need to create a mechanism where domestic competition can lead to an international competition pathway.

Also on bbc
www.bbc.co.uk/sport/58732146

The long-awaited report argues there is no magic solution which balances the inclusion of trans women in female sport while guaranteeing competitive fairness and safety. And, for the first time, it tells sports across Britain that they will have to choose which to prioritise.

I think we know which they will choose .