Football is my sport. I've played amateur football for nearly 30 years. The FA guidance for inclusion of trans people (written in 2016) is an absolute car crash and was written with absolutely no consideration for women and are woefully out of date . I've quoted some of it below.
It explicitly includes cross dressers as trans. It claims discrimination under the Equality Act includes "refusing to let a trans woman play on the women’s team'". Regarding changing rooms, iIt is good practice to ask a trans person what would work best for them and aim to accommodate their preferred option." "Some trans women may be happy to change or shower in open facilities alongside other women."
As non-binary people may not feel particularly comfortable in either men’s or women’s spaces, it claims best practice is to "Ideally, making all toilets, showers and changing cubicles gender neutral"
"The law says that trans people may only be treated differently in relation to sport if it is necessary to ensure fairness of competition – or safety of competitors in a ‘gender-affected activity’.11
a ‘gender-affected activity’ is a competitive activity where the physical strength, stamina or physique of average persons of
one sex would put them at a disadvantage compared to average persons of the other sex . however, whether a trans person can play for a gendered team is not based on whether they are ‘average’ . competitive advantage in sport is based on having better-than- average physical capacity .
We might consider whether a trans woman’s physical capacity falls outside the entire spectrum of women . Or whether a trans man’s physical capacity falls outside the entire spectrum of men . For instance, we say that all women can play women’s football – we
do not say that only women of average physical capacity can play women’s football . Likewise we say all men can play men’s football – we do not say that only men of average physical capacity can play men’s football .
Footballers come in all shapes and sizes . That’s the beauty of the game . consider the wide range of physicalities of players such as Peter crouch and Lionel messi, Diego maradona and Joe hart in the men’s game . Likewise England internationals Jill Scott and Fran Kirby are 5 ft 11 inches and 5 ft 1 inch respectively .
Some people will fall into the broad overlap of the ranges of male and female physical capability, whether or not they have undergone any medical intervention ."
• a player will almost always be authorised to play in the team of their self-identified gender if they can show:
- theirhormoneshavesettledintherange‘typically’ associated with their self-identified gender,
- theirgenderhasbeenreassignedthroughsurgery .
• Players who fall outside that description will be considered case- by-case, taking safety and fair play into account
The Fa’s aim is to maximise inclusion of trans people in football – highlighting the core ‘football is for everyone’ ethos "
"concerns around fair play tend to relate to trans women . There may be an assumption that someone who currently has (or in the past has had) male physical attributes will inevitably have an unfair advantage .
concerns around trans men and fair play are rare because of the common assumption that someone who currently has (or in the past has had) female physical attributes will inevitably be at a disadvantage .
Both assumptions should be avoided and the actual individual situation considered ."
On occasions a trans woman may be a better player than some of her team mates, or even the best player on the team . as with any other player, this may reflect a range of factors including her physical capacity, her temperament, past access to playing opportunities and coaching, and the time and effort she has invested in practice and skills development . her status as a woman should not be questioned simply because she is good at football – being good at football is to be celebrated ."