British Rowing launches updated trans policy

[WookeyHole]

www.britishrowing.org/2022/09/british-rowing-announces-revised-trans-and-non-binary-inclusion-competition-policy-and-procedures/

I was made aware of this yesterday. I would be interested in the opinions on this from those more knowledgable than me, especially with regards to changing rooms.

I think women's competitions will be restricted by a testosterone limit. Other events are normally open rather than Men's so available to all.

Relevant section:

'Applications from trans women and non-binary people assigned male at birth, aged 16 and over, who intend to compete in the Women’s category will be considered by an Expert Panel established by British Rowing, consisting of medical experts and a legal representative.

Domestic Competition: The eligibility requirements for trans women or non-binary competitors assigned male at birth to compete in the women’s category, and who are not intending to represent their home country or compete internationally (i.e. trial or join a British Rowing funded performance programme), will require: a blood hormone test to demonstrate hormone levels of less than 5nmol/l; confirmation their treatment commenced at least 12 months prior to application; and, commitment to test results and such other medical information as the Expert Panel may request. They may be subject to spot checks.
Alternatively, they may be able to confirm and provide evidence satisfactory to the Expert Panel that they have undergone gender reassignment surgery and are not producing testosterone.

Performance Pathway / International Competition: For trans women or non-binary competitors assigned male at birth who intend to compete in the women’s category, and represent their home country or compete internationally (i.e. trial or join a British Rowing funded performance programme) the eligibility requirements are those of World Rowing’s eligibility requirements as set out in World Rowing’s Bye-Laws concerning eligibility by gender for men’s and women’s events.'

It's been extensively shown that testosterone levels alone are far from the only advantage that males have over females. If you've gone through male puberty, there will be many other aspects that give you advantages over females - bones, muscle, lung capacity etc.

It is important that women and girls have the opportunity to take up a sport and compete in an environment that is fair.

IMO any organisation that talks about testosterone levels is letting women down. I believe that anyone born male should only ever be able to compete in mens/open categories.

If you look at the 'under 16' section, evidently no medical info will be needed (and it shouldn't be as they shouldn't be taking puberty blockers). They will just determine if they have started puberty. Just why? Just say no, you're made compete in the males.

I don't understand why they are making so much work for themselves with all this checking levels. It's a disgrace and they are cowards.

Absolute bollocks. Literally.

Trans men won’t be good enough to row in mens’ crews; & trans women have no business stealing women’s spaces. IANABoatie (inc refusal to cox…) but from what I know, a complete outlier would risk unbalancing the boat; & if they’re not an outlier, they’re not likely to be fit enough to row - or they’ll GET fit & become an issue.

Of course you get women of a range of heights/weights/sizes/shapes in rowing - but they also face being told they don’t get to row at a certain level because they’re not right for it - being small & muscly knocks you out of Blues squad rowing (other than in exceptional years) because you’re too short for the Blues boat & weigh too much for the Lightweight boat even when put on a near starvation diet by your coach.

FFS. Why the ongoing pretence this is in any way complicated or difficult? And that testosterone is special magic go-faster juice & the only thing to worry about. It doesn’t sound as if they’re doing continuous monitoring, either, so that’s great. Nobody will exploit something like that.

Yet again, the underlying premise that women are just smaller, lower-testosterone versions of men.

And can't we get rid of the assigned at birth rubbish. Apart from it making it clear which side you are on. I was shouting at the radio last night in a car park when someone used it. (Sorry, can't remember the programme, either R4 or World Service between 6 and 7 pm.)

Always fascinates me how there are very loud complaints about no way forward without genital inspections but here we are with people being declared women by an expert panel...

We need doctors and physios to tell us who can row as a woman. Brilliant...

so progressive for women who've had to fight to be recognised as capable of doing any physical activity outside of child birth.

Why is there so much pandering to this shit?

anyone born male shouldn’t be able to compete as a female. Because they aren’t one. It literally could not be simpler.

why are organisations tying themselves in knots over this absolute crap?

a complete outlier would risk unbalancing the boat

That has put me on a train of thought in which every women's Eights team would have to be Pink Fluffy Girly-Souled Women for balancing purposes. Meaning even more women excluded from rowing.

I suppose the Boring Old Type Women could still cox.

"a blood hormone test to demonstrate hormone levels of less than 5nmol/l; confirmation their treatment commenced at least 12 months prior to application; and, commitment to test results and such other medical information as the Expert Panel may request. They may be subject to spot checks.
Alternatively, they may be able to confirm and provide evidence satisfactory to the Expert Panel that they have undergone gender reassignment surgery and are not producing testosterone."

That reads to me as though they want to tread a fine line. They want to be seen as inclusive, while not being taken for mugs. So some trans identifying males (harmless looking ones) will be allowed in, others not.

There's a few references to 'whatever the panel wants to know' that basically means they will put you through the mill to check you are a bona fide 'true trans'.

It helpfully means absolutely nothing, and that they can do whatever they like on any occasion.

One of the biggest things that influences how good you are at rowing is your height. Steve Redgrave and Matt Pinsent are both 6ft4 - 6ft5. (6-7 inches above average height for a man.)

Helen Glover and Heather Stanning are both 5ft10 to 5ft11. (6-7 inches above average height for a woman.)

But your average man is 5ft10. Pretty sure that reducing your testosterone doesn’t change your height.

If there's any sport where the benefit of male puberty shows it's rowing. Greater height, greater lung capacity, etc and lower testosterone levels aren't going to change that.

Sports reliance on testosterone is essentially saying that any male under going treatment for prostrate cancer is a woman (because his testosterone levels have been reduced).

This is ridiculous. Anyone who has been through male puberty will have a much broader shoulder girdle and massively greater upper body strength than women.
You could lower their testosterone to zero - it wouldn’t shrink their scapulae or clavicles by a single millimetre. Ditto their male cardiac output and lung capacity.
Any first year medical student could tell them it’s nonsense and totally discriminatory against women to allow men to compete in their events.

Yet more bollocks ignoring facts and science about the benefits of going through male puberty and the benefits that it gives men in order to pander to the sacred caste whose demands and fantasies must be pandered to, no matter what the cost to women and girls. Shame on British Rowing and sympathies to women rowers for the betrayal of them and the no doubt frightening intimidatory climate that will be used to enforce this travesty and eradicate women's rowing.

I have just read the Guidance for clubs and it is just trampling all over women.

"Toilets, changing rooms and showers

When a trans or non-binary person joins a club, the club should offer a sensitive conversation to discuss what communal changing facilities they would prefer to use, as not every changing facility will have private cubicles. The law supports a club in making reasonable special arrangements."

No need to ask any of the other club members what they would prefer!

There is a feedback form if you go to the link on the OP

This 2020 article in The Tab about [LGBTQ+ people’s experiences of] sport in Cambridge talks quite a lot about rowing. Including someone being outraged their club wanted to know if they were male or female because non-binary boats are not a thing.

Men’s teams might no longer be able to tell trans men to fuck off (politely or otherwise) to the women’s; but it’s vanishingly unlikely a trans man will ever manage to pull a fast enough erg to get into a boat even somewhere that’ll let the College cat novice if it hops in at the right time.

Ffs do these ppl operate in a cave?? Have they not seen what’s happened in rugby? In cycling? In swimming?

it’s as if they sit down & write this nonsense without looking at anything that’s gone before

anyone born male shouldn’t be able to compete as a female. Because they aren’t one. It literally could not be simpler.

Abso-fucking-lutey.

why are organisations tying themselves in knots over this absolute crap?

Because MEN, men want what men want and must be acquiesced to.

A transman would make a great cox in a male boat though. I coxed at well below 8 stone in my twenties. I doubt any natal male could manage that.

I took up rowing when my then 13 year old son started and one time I was in a mixed quad with him at bow behind me. We went out gently into the Thames and then the cox called for full power. When my then 16yo son put his blades in and pulled I thought it would tear the boat in half. The power he put down was phenomenal. Now he was trained and very fit but he was only 16. He still easily out pulled any woman in the club. Easily.

This absolutely.

Will just mean that more women lose their places in the boat to men. Totally unfair.

Coxes are not restricted by sex.

I rowed at National level at uni and was quite good. My 13 year old son can do a 2k on our Concept 2 ergo better than I could at my peak early 20s fitness level.

To be fair, he's very strong and fit, but he's only 13 and not yet through puberty fully, so women really have no hope with this shit. It really drives to me despair!

There are very, very few sports in which physical size confers advantages so intolerable that there's a need for weight categories. Rowing is one of them. Enough said.

I suppose there just might be a case for allowing TW into women's lightweight rowing provided that the weight rules [no-one over 9st 4lbs, average crew member to be under 9st] were complied with. But to have 6'6", male bodied, behemoths in the regular women's category would be a travesty.

British Rowing need to do some reading, they're way behind current thinking with this nonsense.