Baroness Jenkin on women in sport: gives the FA a kick in the balls

[TheNoWord]

Can't find a thread about this and think this speech deserves a wide audience.

"Here is the problem. Since 2015 the Football Association has had a policy that males may play in women’s teams if they lower their testosterone or, in some cases, even if they do not."

"Women’s football was huge in the early 20th century but was outlawed by the FA in 1921 and remained so for 50 years. Now, once again, women’s football has a chance. Let us hope the FA will not hand it to the boys this time."

Lord Sandhurst also spoke up for women:

If you prefer to read rather than watch, here's the whole debate in Hansard:

hansard.parliament.uk/lords/2022-11-17/debates/9FD06CF9-2FC1-417C-BB24-6EBC4AACEEA7/NationalWomen%E2%80%99SSports

This was an absolutely cracking speech. It hits very close to home for me and I have to admit to shedding a few tears. I've shared it with quite a few people - it's important for people to realise that protecting women's sports isn't some fringe, bigoted view point. It's very mainstream.

Brilliant speeches from both.

Can we be repressed yet again??

Thank you for those links.

Well said both speakers. It is in times like these we see the value of the House of Lords IMO, able to speak up for the right thing without fear.

Wonderful speeches. I wrote a really long post but lost it. I look forward to discussing this issue with my father again at Christmas this year. I wonder if his viewpoint will have changed given Lia Thomas and British cycling.

What a good speech. She spoke so simply and to great effect. No one could possibly see transphobia in her words either - only concern for girls’ football.

Sadly people do see transphobia in it. There's such an ideological divide on this - I don't know how we reconcile the two sides.

But only one side is ideological. Sport is segregated by sex. It's not at all ideological to say that this means females compete in the female category and males compete in the male category. It is ideological to suggest that a male can opt to compete in the female category because their feelings give them some special dispensation. People need to have the backbone to stand up for the actual rules and stop being afraid to disappoint men at the expense of safety, fairness and equality for women.

"Several noble Lords have also taken the opportunity to raise the trans issue, an important issue on which we should perhaps have a further debate on another day."
I thought this was interesting from Baroness Burt as she is a Lib Dem. Looks like #NoDebate is crumbling in their party too.

excellent speech and woman giving it.
the old boy to her side needed a poke in the ribs though

I think the fact that the Boston marathon did introduce a non binary option, which was then unsurprisingly dominated by those male ‘non binary’ people who entered, shows there can be no males in womens sports if we want fairness. I did think it amusing that the female ‘non-binary’ participants complained and wanted the non binary category separated by sex. Wonder how long it’ll take for the penny to drop?

I absolutely agree. We stood up to it and were kicked out of our sporting competition.

This petition might help protect womens’ sports.

Update the Equality Act to make clear the characteristic “sex” is biological sex

The Government must exercise its power under s.23 of the Gender Recognition Act to modify the operation of the Equality Act 2010 by specifying the terms sex, male, female, man & woman, in the operation of that law, mean biological sex and not "sex as modified by a Gender Recognition Certificate"

The Equality Act 2010 covers nine separate protected characteristics, including “Sex” & “Gender Reassignment”. This protects people against sex discrimination and discrimination because a person is transgender.

There has been much confusion about how the Equality Act and GRA interact. This has caused uncertainty and conflict for women, transgender people, and service providers. The GRA includes a provision to amend other laws to make it clear whether a GRC changes the definition of sex for that law.