My DD sport has finally come to its senses.

[HumphreyCushionintheHouse]

I’m in the US (Im British and married an American). My teen DD is a competitive figure skater, and up until today, biological males could identify into the female category to compete.

We had one teenage boy in the female category last year, though not competing with my DD (but competing against her friends in higher categories). He placed in his category, and I’ve been writing strongly worded letters to USFS about how unfair this is, most of which were ignored.

Today, club members received this email from USFS, attached, and I’m over the moon. I’m sure they were forced to do it, it certainly wasn’t their plan as far as I can tell.

Club parents are collectively cheering, and maybe there is hope for the US, re. this issue.

Here’s the link mentioned in the email, from USFS, in case anyone wants to read it.
www.usfigureskating.org/sites/default/files/media-files/CATEGORY%20POLICY%20FOR%20U.S%20FIGURE%20SKATING%20SANCTIONED%20COMPETITIONS.pdf?utm_source=U.S.+Figure+Skating&utm_campaign=c78f2ecdaa-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2025_10_30_02_52&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-c78f2ecdaa-18342

Brilliant news. My DH was at an FA meeting last week about women's football, and they too have now decided football for women and girls is just that. after years of them insisting TWAW

Great news OP. It's taking an age to seep through but slowly women's sport is being returned to women with the cheating men being thrown out.

Now for FIFA!!

Yes- FIFA are an absolute disgrace.
US women’s soccer is stuffed with men who are fawned over by the media.
And don’t start me on basketball- particularly the US national team who should be handing back their medals.

We have achieved so much, but there is still so much to do. I think the IOC decision will be crucial to pushing some sports and country specific federations.

Great news. Thank you for campaigning on the issue OP. I'm a great believer in writing to organisations even if it seems futile at the time. I'd also suggest writing to support the move - they'll probably be getting grief for this decision.

Well done OP! These small acts of agitation really matter. I have done the same in my DD schools to good impact. Congratulations!

The Athletic covered a story about this yesterday with the statistic that there are zero trans women in their league. What's your source?

Angel City's Sarah Gorden rebuts teammate's call for NWSL gender eligibility policy

That article says Barbra Banda is a woman whereas ive read that they have a DSD that only affects males.

Thanks for posting this.

Of course, it doesn’t give the reader any background at all about male people with differences of sex development and how that group of male people negatively impact female sports. The mention of another group of male people, those with transgender identities, were mentioned instead.

It's the Caster Semenya thing all over again, isn't it? Banda was on meds to suppress testosterone to be eligible to compete in the African cup in 2018.

The use of 'cis' is a good reminder that the term 'cis' is meaningless because the term includes any male person who has a DSD yet has a body that is **formed around the production of small gametes that has any degree of sensitivity to any of the testosterone that body produces.

The article linked just above shows exactly how meaningless the word 'cis' is. It talked about the group of male people who have transgender identities and called another group of male people 'cisgender' (the implication being that they are female when reading this article). The article strongly implies those male people who go through male puberty but were wrongly identified by medical staff as being female at birth are female people.

https://archive.is/saCqC

here is an archive link for those who need it.

When cis is used, there is no word left for female people. Using it includes a group of male people in the word 'female' or 'woman'.

Particular when even male people are now saying they are also ‘female’ . When ^^ female means only a person of the sex category where that person's body has been formed around the production of large gametes, regardless of whether the body does, has or ever will produce those large gametes. ie that requires the presence of ovaries or ovarian tissue - never testes.

In fact, we now have examples of many male people declaring that they are female people. So even the word for female has become meaningless in that sense.

But 'cis' is a* *word that was repurposed from its original usage and is meaningless for the purpose of discussing female people in its current usage. It has been used in academic papers as well in an attempt at using inclusive language which then renders the papers meaningless because the term is not describing a unique grouping of human bodies, even when it claims to be doing just that.

To see how this works, we have been told that 'girl' and 'woman' both now include:

1 Male person who has been incorrectly registered as a female at birth, but has a male body **.
2 Any male person has now claimed a transgender identity using those labels.
3 And any person who has a female body ^^.

Under the label of 'girl' and 'woman', extreme transgender activists have been telling us for years that those labels break down into two types of girls or women:

Cis and Transwomen/transgirls.

These terms mean:
Cis
= (1) Male person who has been incorrectly registered as a female at birth, but has a male body **
and
= (3) Any person who has a female body^^
Trans
= (2) Any male person has now claimed a transgender identity using those labels.

Therefore there is no unique word to mean female people who have a body ^^ formed around the production of large gametes.

Cis is meaningless as a unique description for female people and it always was. It is also misogynistic because it leaves female people with no unique word for their needs.

This graphic might be helpful.

I’m not referring to transwomen.
I’m referring to men with DSD.

Here is Elizabeth Eddy's essay that prompted article.

https://nitter.net/elizabetheddy2/status/1982593517362000308#m

The W in NWSL

When I joined the National Women’s Soccer League 11 years ago, our games were live-streamed to fans on YouTube. Today, our league is halfway through a four-year, $240 million television contract. Our teams are among the most valuable franchises in women’s sports. Yet with this remarkable growth comes an urgent challenge: How do we preserve women’s rights and competitive fairness while fostering meaningful inclusion?

I’m proud to have played a small role in our league’s transformation from struggling startup to supercharged celebrity-maker. I’ve been a part of winning seven titles: three NWSL Championships, three regular-season titles and one International Champions Cup. But I’m concerned that without clarity about who the league is for, it will lose its identity and its momentum.

Recent controversies across women’s sports — from swimming to track and field — have highlighted the absence of clear eligibility policies in professional soccer, unlike a growing number of other competitions. This uncertainty serves no one, as questions and controversy abound over intersex and transgender athletes. Players have been excluded and then unexcluded, administrators have blamed and criticized each other, and fans have used the uncertainty to harass players.

Leaders from across the political spectrum, including progressives like California Gov. Gavin Newsom and former Vice President Kamala Harris, have expressed support for stronger protections for the integrity of women’s sports. Ensuring fairness prompted numerous international leagues to tighten eligibility. World Athletics did so in 2023 for international track and field competitions. Other countries’ domestic organizations did the same, including the UK Athletics Federation. World Aquatics (formerly FINA), international swimming’s governing body, adopted clear rules about sex and gender eligibility in 2022. England’s Football Association now requires ovaries at birth.

Addressing this challenge entails remembering why women’s sports categories exist in the first place: not to exclude but to create a space where female athletes can physically compete on equal footing. Studies show measurable differences between men and women in muscle mass, bone density and cardiovascular capacity, which directly affect competitive outcomes. Further research has found male muscular advantage is only “minimally reduced” — by about 5% over 12 months — by testosterone suppression.

Fairness and inclusion are core American values. Reasonable people can disagree about where to draw lines, but avoiding the conversation altogether by shutting out diverse views does not serve us. In fact, we owe it to current and future female athletes to solve this.

The NWSL must adopt a clear standard. One option is all players must be born with ovaries, as the FA requires. Another option is an SRY gene test, like those World Athletics and World Boxing implemented.

This SRY genetic marker indicates male-developmental pathways during fetal growth, providing objective scientific criteria for competitive categorization. Critics say genetic-testing policies can cause psychological harm. This concern must be taken seriously. Testing could easily integrate into medical evaluations through existing blood draws or noninvasive cheek swabs, conducted once per career under strict confidentiality protocols. Athletes testing positive for the SRY gene could receive comprehensive support, including counseling, privacy protections and inclusion in professional networks. World Athletics has successfully used similar protocols since 2018, with legal challenges ultimately supporting such policies’ scientific basis.

Creating pathways for athletes traditionally excluded from competing at the highest level would demonstrate inclusion and competitive integrity can coexist.

I know from experience the NWSL is more than just a sports league. For many, dreams are coming true in real life — dreams that were impossible before my generation. I also understand that for many athletes and fans, seeing intersex and transgender athletes compete and dominate on sports’ biggest stages also realizes a dream. How can we make an open arena reality for small and tragically marginalized minorities with nowhere else that may feel safe and inclusive to compete?

The answer is in the NWSL’s own history. Just as we built a new space for women to compete in the largest arenas, now we must honor that commitment and make the National Women’s Soccer League for women. I welcome leaders including the aforementioned American politicians to come together with the NWSL’s blueprint and build solutions.

Some pathway ideas: an open division within the NWSL, small-sided opportunities like the Soccer Tournament and World Sevens Football, pathways to stay in the game and free counseling. I don’t have all the answers, but I do know we’re all in this together. It will take time, space and creativity to cooperate as we move forward.

Decisions the NWSL makes — or shirks its responsibility to make — will shape opportunities for young athletes of all backgrounds for decades to come. We must get them right by finding the most ethical and innovative path ahead.

Women’s sports showcase the full range of human ability as we reach and exceed what is physically possible. Everybody needs a chance to break records and achieve the previously impossible. That is why we love to celebrate women competing against each other and why we need creative solutions to ensure everybody can compete on a level playing field.

It would be nice to have no need for clear eligibility criteria. Unfortunately, when money, power and fame are at stake, which inevitably happens in professional sports, competitors may try to push on what is right or fair. Especially when the goal of winning requires using every available advantage.
Oct 26, 2025 · 11:41 PM UTC

-end-

Elizabeth Eddy has asked that her sport follow the same process that the World Athletics, World Rugby, World Rugby and now quite a number of sporting authorities have implemented.

Because male athletes who have been misidentified as female people at birth due to their medical condition, such as Caster Semenya, have a physical advantage over female athletes.

Of course, the only fair and non-discriminatory way to regulate female sports is that all players in female categories are tested, not just a targeted list.

And test early so that in the future there is no grounds for speculation.

Males with DSDs tend to get played, particularly in African football teams. DSDs are more common in certain African populations

And although the OP is about figure skating and not Barbra Banda, this is just some of the background about Banda

https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/07/13/zambian-woman-footballer-sex-tested-because-fifa-allows-it

Strange that the journalist who wrote that NY Times article did not include any background as to why there has been speculation about Banda's eligibility.

Instead this is was Meg Linehan wrote:

"On Monday, The New York Post published Elizabeth Eddy’s call for a gender eligibility policy, in which she suggested that the league stipulate players must be born with ovaries, or undergo gene testing. Currently, there are no trans players in the NWSL.

The New York Post ran a photo of Orlando Pride player Barbra Banda with the article. Banda was harassed during a game against Gotham FC in New Jersey this year over the issue, but she is cisgender and has broken no gender eligibility policies at any level."

Hardly a balanced article. Or truthful when you understand the wording.

Banda has 'broken' gender eligibility policies in the past. So has at least one of Banda's national team mates, if I remember correctly.

This article https://archive.is/saCqC is in fact a very good demonstration on how misinformation works.

Adding this for further information too. Not just Banda but also Kundanabji.

https://www.skynews.com.au/lifestyle/trending/elephant-in-the-room-lucy-zelic-slams-olympics-after-zambian-football-players-failed-gender-verification-tests/news-story/bb22681cf86b38c6643aa40be30166a9

"Two years ago, both women were banned from playing in the Africa Cup of Nations tournament after “failing gender eligibility tests”.

"However, Banda and Kundanabji were cleared to play in the World Cup and the Olympics after FIFA allowed countries to conduct their own gender eligibility tests."

And for more about Kundanabji, there is this:

https://www.lusakatimes.com/2024/02/14/rachel-kundananji-shatters-records-as-worlds-most-expensive-female-footballer/

"Rachel Kundananji has made football history by becoming the most expensive women’s footballer ever after sealing a move from Spanish club Madrid CFF to USA club Bay FC for a staggering transfer fee of $860,000 (£685,000)."

FIFA needs to act. I don't believe that they can continue to ignore this issue. It will also likely be that some of these players will simply retire and retain their reported achievements while never having a sex verification test.

Just adding a correction to the above:

Banda has 'broken' gender eligibility policies in the past. So has at least one of
Banda's national team mates, if I remember correctly.

Should be

Banda has 'broken' gender eligibility policies in the past. So has at least one of
Banda's national team mates.

Banda and Kundanabji were both excluded previously for that reason.

RareGoalsVerge that's an excellent letter because it emphasises that this is not a tragedy for the trans-identifying male figure skaters who were incorrectly being allowed to compete in the female category. All sports can be enjoyed in a variety of ways and there are lots of ways that a sport can exist in ways that are independent of gender. All these rulings are doing is saying that the single-sex female category competitions can't include any male people. This isn't exclusionary if there are opportunities that those people can still enjoy participating in.

That’s so good to see. When you see the huge differences in the levels of expected jumps ( consistent) that male skaters are doing there is no way that it can be argued there’s no physical advantage in having a male body in figure skating.