UK Ice Hockey - 'transgender policy' - what could possibly go wrong?

[ArabellaScott]

www.icehockeyuk.co.uk/transgender-policy/

A policy that one can admire for its certitude, if not much else.

Good fucking god, who wrote this nonsense?!

'Deliberate use of inappropriate names and pronouns amounts to harassment.'

'Titles such as Mx may be requested, and are already appearing in, for instance, Passports'

'If an individual has a GRC, any person learning of a that individual’s trans history, while working in an ‘official capacity’ – such as a manager or office staff – would commit a criminal offence if they passed this information on, without the explicit permission of the person concerned.'

'It is, in any case, good practice to treat trans people as though they have a GRC, and maintain absolute confidentiality'

'Where a person changes gender role, whilst still being an active, playing member (or a member of staff)[3], all documents relating to the person’s previous history, name, gender status or other personal details should be kept separately from other club paperwork, in a locked safe or drawer, in double envelopes which must be sealed, marked confidential, and only accessed by a named person, agreed by the trans person, for instance, the Club manager, whose name should appear on the outer envelope'

'players, staff and spectators ... must be accommodated in men’s and women’s toilets and changing areas, according to the gender role in which they are living full-time'

'When teams are staying away from home overnight, the usual practice is for two people to share a room. It is also usually acceptable in situations where one of the pair is trans, as long as the trans person is in agreement. This means trans boys/men will share with one other boy/man, and vice versa. The manager will have responsibility for ensuring that a sensible choice of responsible individuals is made. For those under 16, the views of parents should be taken into account'

Later on, the policy suggests that safety should be taken into account and acknowledges sex differences, but given that any mention of anyone's sex or gender identity is to be buried in radiation-proof secret lead-lined safes 200 leagues beneath the sea, how on earth would this be implemented?

If a big, beefy male decides they wants to play with the girls, how do they delicately mention the safety aspect without risking aforementioned heinous criminal wrongthink?

Wonder no more! A helpful hypothetical situation is demonstrated by 'Martha':

'Case study: Martha had recently transitioned. She had played ice-hockey as a man and the men’s team regarded her as a good, but not outstanding player. During the first year following her transition, she was more focussed on dealing with her work situation, and she temporary stopped playing. As things settled down in her life, she wanted to play ice-hockey again, and approached the women’s team manager. The manager said that the usual process was to have a trial with the women’s team. The women’s team captain was fine with this, but some of the other players objected and one asked if she had a gender recognition certificate. The manager said, “I don’t know, and I’m not going to ask. It would be a breach of her privacy and it’s not relevant”. The manager and the captain, insisted that it was only fair to let Martha try out for the team. Martha’s trial showed that her standard of play was considered good enough to be a team member, but she was certainly not the best player. Several other woman played to a higher standard. She joined the team, and the matter was never raised again.'

Just double checked my passport and driving licence. No salutation in my passport, but there is one on my driving licence. Don't know if you can remove it.

I don't care much about salutations - neither here nor there in themselves. However, it shows that this policy is not just crackers, but also inaccurate. Are there countries which request salutations in passports? Has this policy been cut and pasted from another association perhaps?

It's like, if you can't even get a basic statement of fact right I'm hardly going to trust you to have thought through anything at all.

The whole thing is just unworkable nonsense.

and "gender role" is a really odd choice of phrase - are they deliberately picking it over 'gender identity' or 'gender expression' or even the bland old 'gender'? Gender roles are 'females do the housework and males go to the office or building site'.
What are the gender roles in ice hockey?

I'm not sports literate, so not sure if other kinds of hockey are close relations to ice hockey, but for the sake of completeness, here is Scottish Hockey's policy:

www.scottish-hockey.org.uk/governance/policies/

Approved by Scottish Hockey Board 18/09/2017

Actually does make mention of women's potential concerns:

'Hockey is a non-contact sport and SH sanctions men’s, mixed and women’s hockey competitions; as such there are no safety concerns for any trans male or female wishing to take part in sanctioned hockey competitions, in training or friendly/recreational hockey. Accordingly, you should accept people in the gender they present and verification of their identity should be no more than that expected of any other player.
We recognise, however, that there may be some concerns about fairness in the women’s and mixed game. Our policy assumes that trans women (male-to-female trans person) wishing to compete in mixed or female sanctioned hockey competitions do so with the best of intentions and with no intent to deceive about their status to gain any competitive advantage.
Should someone have a genuine reason to believe that there may be some deception to gain a competitive advantage in the mixed or women’s game or that there are genuine and substantive concerns about the trans woman’s physical strength, stamina or physique that may put other female competitors at risk, they should refer their concerns to the SH Head of Domestic Game'

Parts of the policy based on (presumably current in 2017) IOC rules:

'5.1 Those who transition from female to male are eligible to compete in the male category without restriction.
5.2 Those who transition from male to female are eligible to compete in the female category under the following conditions:
5.2.1. The athlete has declared that her gender identity is female. The declaration cannot be changed, for sporting purposes, for a minimum of four years.
5.2.2. The athlete must demonstrate that her total testosterone level in serum has been below 10 nmol/L for at least 12 months prior to her first competition (with the requirement for any longer period to be based on a confidential case-by-case evaluation, considering whether or not 12 months is a sufficient length of time to minimize any advantage in women’s competition).
5.2.3. The athlete's total testosterone level in serum must remain below 10 nmol/L throughout the period of desired eligibility to compete in the female category.
5.2.4. Compliance with these conditions may be monitored by testing. In the event of non- compliance, the athlete’s eligibility for female competition will be suspended for 12 months'

Policy acknowledges help/input from GIRES.

England Hockey policy - much the same as the Scottish Hockey one.

www.englandhockey.co.uk/governance/equality-diversity-inclusion/equality-diversity-and-inclusion-updates

'Any trans person (male or female) is permitted to participate fully, i.e. train, play in informal matches or play in hockey competitions, in their affirmed gender'

'Hockey is a non-contact sport and EH sanctions men’s, mixed and women’s hockey competitions; as such there are no safety concerns for any trans male or female wishing to take part in sanctioned hockey competitions, in training or friendly/recreational hockey. Accordingly, you should accept people in the gender they present and verification of their identity should be no more than that expected of any other player.'

I'm so fed up with this shit. We need the government to step in to protect females.

I don't give a crap about anybody intentions.

I care about fair sport.

Ice hockey is almost inevitably a contact or even a collision sport, though I don't know how much of that is built into the rules. Field hockey isn't, but women have lighter facial bones so are more likely to suffer if encountering a male-strength shot to the eye socket. At the very least, female players should know they are playing a mixed sex team and should have the opportunity to wear appropriate protective gear imo.

I know a tiny bit about ice hockey. The women's game is very different from men's at all levels. If you think rugby is rough then watch some ice hockey. Local matches end up in punch ups. Several in a match. Physical contact during play is not against the rules and it's a testosterone fest.
It is also not uncommon for women in team GB ice hockey to play in the men's team in regional leagues. This is because they can't get the international level practice in local women's teams. The get injured though.

That policy has got to have been written by a trans person without any input from a wider pool of women, girls and parents of girls who play ice hockey.

the bit about the sleeping arrangements is just plain creepy. Sounds like a pervert’s charter

www.skysports.com/more-sports/ice-hockey/news/29876/11914511/elite-league-why-first-pride-weekend-in-uk-ice-hockey-matters-to-lgbt-community

@PermanentTemporary I have never seen any women play without wearing full facial protection, helmets and padding. It's actually the rest of the body that's more vulnerable from being slammed into the wall.
Men not so much. Lots of missing teeth.

I'm guessing the Ice Hockey policy may have been written by

Policy Lead (Safeguarding, GDPR & Equality Diversity): Charles Dacres

www.icehockeyuk.co.uk/ihuk-officers/

www.morrisonsfoundation.com/about-us/charles-dacres/

'Charles is a Bradfordian through and through. He has seen many changes and has tried to contribute to the betterment of the district with roles in schools as a governor and advisor, as a Trustee of the local ice arena and as Chair of the Windrush Generations group.
Charles is Director of Bradford Hate Crime Alliance (BHCA).
His role is to ensure that there is a robust partnership in place to address hate crime and hate crime reporting across the district.
Much of his work and experience addresses complex equality and diversity issues that impact on individuals, communities and organisations, developing approaches that enable leaders to better understand the needs of the people they serve.
Charles has worked for the local Authority for a number of years, leading on equality and diversity issues. Charles holds a Master’s Degree in Diversity Management, gained through the University of Bradford.'

So, someone with a Masters in this stuff. Not just some random.

Director of Bradford Hate Crime Alliance.

bradfordhatecrimealliance.com/talk-to-our-bhca-team/

That policy has been written by an extremist.

And surely incredibly illegal as per Equality Act ad they are prioritising the PC of gender reassignment above everything else.

www.icehockeyuk.co.uk/ihuk-officers/

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11531705/Moment-trans-woman-hockey-player-concusses-trans-male-rival.html

I would say that yes, it seems to markedly and deliberately disregard all other protected characteristics.

But if it was written by Charles Dacre, he's a very well credentialed expert in the field of diversity.

If hockey is a non-contact sport, why is the goalie dressed like this? And why are defence wearing face helmets? And why are all players wearing shin pads and padded gloves?

100% male, every one of them.

Well, going by the names, anyway.

Notice that Dacres holds the safeguarding role as well as the Equality Diversity role (and GDPR). Which presumably explains why safeguarding women and girls is deprioritised in favour of men's rights (as usual).

I saw a player at an ice hockey match get up from some kind of scrimmage without his stick. I, as a novice to ice-hockey, thought the ref might pause the game while he got it from where it had been booted (bladed?) halfway across the rink. No. Play continued and the stick-free player yanked on opposing players' arms and tried to pull them over instead.

Not a non-contact sport at all.

@IceFair I think we're agreeing. But so you mean you've never seen a woman play field hockey without full protection? I'm just saying this because my team leader used to play field hockey and had fractured facial bones twice. The images of field hockey play that I've seen don't include any protection, and I wondered if it's becoming more standard.