Elite sports people speaking up!

[Signalbox]

There seems to be an increasing number of sports people speaking up about the problem of males completing in women's sports which is positive. Thought it might be useful to have a thread of those who are risking sticking their heads above the parapet. Obviously the likes of Sharon Davies, Mara Yamauchi and Martina Navratilova have been bravely doing this for sometime but now we appear to have a few current athletes as well who are prepared to risk the mob to ensure women have fair competition. Is it too much to hope for that there will be a snowball effect?

Transgender women will no longer be able to play in women's football in England from 1 June, the Football Association has announced.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cz01z4rdx4no

Well, zippedyfuckingdoodaah!

"This is a complex subject, and our position has always been that if there was a material change in law, science, or the operation of the policy in grassroots football then we would review it and change it if necessary," the FA said.

Except that there hasn’t actually been any ‘material change’, other than the SC ruling clarifying that sex means biological sex - the law hasn’t actually changed.

Seems to me like the FA were too frit to do what it knew was the right thing before the SC ruling, and now that it’s hand has conveniently been forced it can say ‘sorry lads, we’ve no choice in this now’.

Great. So when will football authorities like FIFA do something about the situation with males with DSDs playing in women's football? A separate issue, but one that needs dealing with. And not just in football, of course.

If they are restricting the category to "those born female" then no male player at all can play. Even if they are recorded as F on their birth certificate (which won't be the case in the UK or most of Europe and the USA) the mistake that resulted in the incorrect sex being recorded does not make them "born female". Admittedly, there may have to be some challenges, and I anticipate some "retirement due to injury". That's how it ought to work logically, but it might involve litigation about specific players as to eligibility, or even what "born female" means. Especially if players come into the WSL from abroad - there are some male players with DSDs in other European league. But they might not get visas for that reason.

WarningToTheCurious · Today 12:59

Seems to me like the FA were too frit to do what it knew was the right thing before the SC ruling, and now that it’s hand has conveniently been forced it can say ‘sorry lads, we’ve no choice in this now’.

Or they chased a rabbit down a hole, it being tremendous fun and why listen to Owner's commands to come back, when you nearly have Bugs in your teeth... oh shit, you can't turn round...

Just have to wait for the Fire Brigade to dig down and drag you out backwards, all the while insisting that being stuck head down in a hole for 5 days was tremendous larks... but it's a bit unfair that Owner now keeps you on a tight leash...

@SinnerBoy That makes no sense at all and I hope it’s because you‘ve been having a shit ton few celebratory bevvies.

🍻

Well I don't want to go down any rabbit-hole here, but I think that I get Sinner's meaning,

I think SinnerBoy is saying the FA was like a dog that saw including trans women as another opportunity for misogyny and chased it with abandon. That it got it stuck down a rabbit hole is a shame but it's still a shame it got dragged back out and had to be reasonable to women.

Ah, now I get it - thanks!

Trans women are to be banned from female football, netball and cricket as a result of last month's landmark SC ruling that sex is based on biology

Today, the England and Wales Cricket Board, which lets trans women compete in grassroots female teams but not at elite level, is expected to follow suit after taking legal advice.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14670309/Victory-campaigners-trans-women-banned-football-cricket-netball.html

FA bosses are facing demands to apologise for the treatment of women and girls forced to compete against biological men — and punished if they complained.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/34753816/fa-bosses-women-football-biological-men/

Too right. The last time DD played football it was in a University match against a team that included a man in his 30s. He was not very good, but large and strong and DD ended up so battered she could not play the next week. She never went back.

Worse probably for the 18 year old first years on the other team who were forced to share a changing room with a bigger, stronger and older man all the while pretending this was a woman. All their instincts would have been screaming that this was both inappropriate and unsafe. I assume a fair few of this group would also have failed to return. To satisfy the ego one man, who could have played in a men's team, several women and girls were denied access to sport. This is not inclusion.

DD now has a similar problem with the team she now plays for in a different sport with a transwoman on the side. Other teams are refusing to play them and the Committee are split. It is a fairly new club and sadly one man may destroy it. I assume the same has been happening all over the country at grass roots level in a number of sports.

The trashing of women's sports, organisations and boundaries runs through this ideology and it's so distressing to watch younger women being bullied into compliance .
No more.

https://www.ecb.co.uk/news/4257688/ecb-update-on-transgender-participation-in-womenscricket

New statement from ECB

NumberTheory · Today 03:27

That's the gist!

I really hope that the two suspended school girls are reinstated without any stain on their records. I suppose that grovelling apologies are too much to expect, of course. I'm not sure if they could sue, as it'd probably be a case of:

But before 16-04-25, nobody knew and we thought it was for the best...

“With immediate effect” 💪

I think they can sue as the Law is today what it was in 2010 it hasn't changed, what the FA were doing was against the Law and ignorance of the Law is no defence.

I hope all the women and girls damaged by the FA punching down on them band together and sue them.

These changes are great.... but where is the statement that says anyone is committed to fairness and safety for women??

ECB "Our regulations for recreational cricket have always aimed at ensuring that cricket remains as inclusive a sport as possible. These included measures to manage disparities, irrespective of someone’s gender, and safeguard the enjoyment of all players. However, given the new advice received about the impact of the Supreme Court ruling, we believe the changes announced today are necessary.

We acknowledge that this decision will have a significant impact on transgender women and girls. We will work with Recreational Cricket Boards to support people impacted by this change

We maintain that abuse or discrimination has no place in our sport and are committed to ensuring that cricket is played in a spirit of respect and inclusivity.'

I am looking for the full FA statement so I can read that too.. not just the soundbites...

Nothing about the effect their previous stance had on women and girls as per usual.

And nothing about on going commitment to women and girls...

This is not new for them... the toothless organisation that is the UK Councils for Sport directed all sports to set biological based rules for all gender affected sports in 2021 providing the justification, the principles, the wording..... no one responded.

There is/will be no statement regretting the harm to women and girls because they don't care/haven't noticed.

Frankly, I hope lots of women and girls do sue, and add the total lack of apology or even admission that this has harmed them as a reason for aggravated damages. (If that's a thing.)

Good segment here where Sharron D. and Maura Y. school a clueless, androcentric interviewer. From 26:30 to about 43 minutes.

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w173067qhlkv5vw

The interviewer is awful. "What about the menz... and their feelz" Sharron "Stop centering the menz, what about women". Interviewer "What about the menz."

That interview made me shout at the radio - and the worst was the sign-off, "as a reminder we had a lengthy interview with transwomen yesterday" which had actually been played earlier in the segment anyway. As if to remind everyone "we haven't forgotten about the men".

Sharron and Mara got in all the brilliant points though so thank goodness this is finally getting air time.