England Rugby sees sense re women's rugby

[Fenlandia]

twitter.com/fairplaywomen/status/1550484623280553985

"BREAKING NEWS. Another sport says no to males in women’s teams. Two years after the World Rugby ruling, England Rugby Union now joins the growing list of sports reverting to sex categories."

Thank you FPFW for your tireless work on this. Why the RFU has taken so long to see the bleeding obvious (mixed sex adults rugby. What could possibly go wrong!) is another matter.

Also covered in the Times (sorry no share token) www.thetimes.co.uk/article/transgender-women-banned-from-female-contact-rugby-in-england-ffk076ctb

I wince at "trans female" and "assigned male at birth" of course.

I was just coming to post about this. Daily Mail article if you aren't on Twitter:

www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/sportsnews/article-11039593/English-Rugby-wants-BAN-transgender-women-playing-womens-games.html

Excellent.

If only they hadn't stated 'assigned male at birth' in their press release. Please, it's SEX, not gender and SEX OBSERVED AT BIRTH, not assigned. FFS!

But bloody hell, that's great news!

It is long overdue, having deliberately taken the opposite position to World Rugby a couple of years ago. They have been extremely lucky that there hasn’t been a serious injury in the meantime.

Actually the RFU statement seems to use pretty clear language: “The RFU council will vote on a recommendation for a policy change for contact rugby to only permit players in the female category whose sex recorded at birth was female.“

The Mail article says

'The RFU council will vote on a recommendation for a policy change for contact rugby to only permit players in the female category whose sex recorded at birth was female.

But then later

'the inclusion of trans people assigned male at birth in female contact rugby cannot be balanced against considerations of safety and fairness.'

I don't remember the name of the TW who 'folded opponents like a deckchair' but I am glad that this has rightly been seen to be unacceptable on safety (and fairness) grounds. I hope that those TW who are currently playing in women's teams need can continue to play the sport they love BUT IN THE CORRECT SEX TEAM

They've come along since defining females as merely low-testosterone versions of males twitter.com/annndreeaaaaa/status/1378677347487002625

It's this player Nancy www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/49298550

By sex observed at birth, do they mean you’d have to produce a birth certificate? Because your sex can be changed on that, can’t it?

I remember that utter horror.

Good question. The GRC is still a mess. Facts matter.

Those with a GRC will the the ones captured by the 'assigned male at birth' bit because you wouldn't need a GRC otherwise.

Thank fuck. It's bad enough in non-contact sports, but in something like Rugby it's unconscionable to pretend that male bodies are safe playing against women.

Looks like it will still be subject to a vote by the Council though, so not quite there yet...

Am thinking of writing to as many of the Council members as I can find details for?

Council members can be found: www.englandrugby.com/dxdam/6f/6fcd1c4b-960d-47c8-ad17-b93aa5ba4fed/Council%20Members%20Biographies%202021-22%20(Jan%20update).pdf

Share token
www.thetimes.co.uk/article/00e7b290-09c3-11ed-a986-fc91b4ad48f0?shareToken=b3bbb5e8ac9a10634648ecca346c9fa0
I'll archive it too

I wonder if this decision has anything to do with the lawsuit mentioned here -
www.bbc.com/sport/rugby-union/62194385.amp

Nothing to do with trans players but still brings the responsibility/ duty of care issues to the forefront. https://www.bbc.com/sport/rugby-union/62194385.amp

I just can’t see how any lawyer would advise rugby’s governing bodies that having male bodied individuals playing with females is ok anyway…

archive.today/WzFoE

When so many male professional rugby players are being diagnosed with motor neurone disease or dementia, likely because of the physicality of the modern game, it is extraordinary to me that this conversation has even been needed.

This plonker:
twitter.com/nickheathsport/status/1550497245929373696

"Inclusion means everyone.
Exclusion brings in rules of who can and who can't.
Who is the RFU expecting will police this policy change? What if a cisgender female player is accused of being trans due to appearance? Must a community ref now deal with this accusation?"

Then has the cheek to say:
"I count myself as a proud ally to women's rugby."

I suspect England Rugby have finally realised that in the event of a lawsuit, its indemnity insurance would be unlikely to pay-out, let alone any legal defence fund insurance. On the grounds that England Rugby Union had deliberately rendered itself to legal proceedings that couldn't be defended.

This is good news. I know it has to be voted on but now they have framed the new rules on

SAFETY and FAIRNESS

That would suggest they believe it is unsafe to carry on with the current rules and hence any injury to a women caused by a trans women would make them liable.

this will increase pressure on other sports bodies to be fair and make sport safe. Safety doesn’t relate to many sports to the same degree but I’ll take fairness for all sports.

Good. Fair play for Women are relentlessly pursuing every sporting body. And it's paying off.

This is great news. Hopefully sense will prevail and the vote will pass.

The house of cards is falling.