RFU votes in new Gender Policy

I'll bet Sacha wouldn't debate this with Ross Tucker or Emma Hilton? Scientists who know their facts.

The piece on Sky annoys me so, I feel for Alix and she maybe smaller than her opposition but it is about all women and all men.

That is a godawful piece. I don't feel for Alix at all, Alix is 54 and surrounded by young women. Alix has taken an opportunity to play away from a young woman. Alix said "the interesting thing about me" twice and "all the things I've done in my life" once in the twenty seconds that I watched Alix talk. I bet you could go to the pub with Alix for two hours and Alix wouldn't ask you a single question about yourself. Alix can fuck off to the far side of fuck.

Listening to a woman (Sacha Atchison) on R5 Live say that any arguments about male puberty, bone density, strength and testosterone are null and void. Because transwomen are tested and on testosterone blockers that give them a t level of 0. Lower than biological female t levels. And that as other races have different genetic bone density if the argument against transwomen in women's rugby is down to bone density then white people shouldn't play against Japanese teams. And so on.

She is happy to through the female sex under the bus because she knows a transwoman with a t level of 0.

Ha won't answer the question of why should we have women's sports at all

Fucking hell now she's saying Asians have lower bone density than white people so should European teams not play Japan? Absolute bonkers.

Now we need to repeal the GRA and Gender Recognition Certificates, so that no one can change their sex on their birth certificates. It's outrageous that something that is supposed to be a record of fact, on which so much in life can depend, can be altered.

Who is this clown on radio 5 live right now correcting the presenter for saying male at birth? They were "always female but their body doesn't match who they are". FFS lunacy.

Radio 4 reported this as trans people being excluded

I really think we need to work on that

transmen are welcome in women's teams provided they're not doping with T and transwomen are perfectly at liberty to join men's teams

Some very angry men on that twitter feed!

The piece on Sky annoys me so, I feel for Alix and she maybe smaller than her opposition but it is about all women and all men.

Also no one is stopping anyone. Everyone can play in their sex class, much like a 20 year old can't play in U12. Inclusion does not mean do as you please.

This is really rocking their boat, the one they thought was unsinkable.

So tw are not w in swimming, in rugby, in cycling.

Know where else tw are NOT w?

Everywhere.

Every goddamn place on earth.

So get the fuck out of my bloody hospital wards, toilets, changing rooms, refuges, women's clubs, women's services. Anywhere for women, actually.

Iceberg ahead.

That's the best place for Mermaids - outside of all this. The harm they've wreaked on children is incalculable and to see them adding women's sports to this is infuriating.

I see Mermaids were outside. Mermaids are about children and young people up to 19 so is this really their domain or are they suffering from function creep?

Crikey - common sense and evidence based decisions breaking out all over.

I have written to the RFU on this a couple of times. My sons play rugby and both of them were bigger and stronger than me by the age of 13. There is no way any male who has been even part of the way through puberty would be safe to play against most women.

I don't think we should underestimate the level of pressure that those council members were probably subjected to. A round of applause for the 33 who stood firm.

I am seeing some ‘dark day for rugby’ tweets… maybe that ‘dark day for MN’ is contagious!

26 people who voted wanted men to play against women in rugby.

Wonder why.

What is it that makes people lose their brains and all common sense the second someone with a penis claims to be a woman?

Why, when we have endless fucking evidence on the differences between male and female physiology and biology that they suddenly pretend there is none?

I should think that they are trying to find individual votes: I could speculate as to why they would want that information.

I would hope that it's to send postcards to the panel members in which they congratulate them for their evidence-based approach to a hyper-polarised issue and commitment to women's sports.

It might be for other purposes.

Woah, there's someone on that Twitter thread with a trans flag in their handle asking "if it was a recorded vote."

Are they trying to find out the names of the people who voted against them?

Very good news but really, the power of the trans lobby to put others at risk of harm - especially women and children.

@applesandpears33

I’m not. I think there’s a level of machismo in female rugby - it’s a sport involving power, strength and stamina, so hard for the women to admit they are not actually as powerful or resilient (physically) as the men. But they’re not, and the ones who don’t mind playing men don’t have the right to put the ones who do at risk. They can found their own mixed sex teams.

Baffling how close this was, seeing as mixed-sex rugby teams are not allowed in England from the age of 12 upwards!

No doubt Sky News will do more puff pieces of middle-aged transwomen players saying how this makes them sad.

I think there was plenty of last minute lobbying. Of emotive stories and the usual ‘there really isn’t any evidence… the studies are not specific’ etc.

I mean Mermaids protestors were out at Twickenham doing last minute lobbying.

Now let’s see male community teams accept the 54 year olds into their games.