Grassroots sports will lose funding if trans women are allowed to compete in women’s divisions, a right-wing think tank has claimed.
A report published by an organization called Policy Exchange states that “the issue of biological males competing in women’s categories” goes beyond a well-publicized problem in elite competition and is actually a “threat to women’s sport as a whole.” It is claimed that
The report states that while the monosexual category is “important in encouraging women and girls to participate in sport and physical activity in the first place,” the inclusion of trans women in grassroots competitions “will “This may affect the ranking and selection of candidates.” It risks depriving women of their entry level to the sport and ultimately eliminating future elite female athletes. ”
The report, supported by prominent former athletes Sharon Davis, Martina Navratilova and Daley Thompson, argues that far tougher measures need to be taken at the grassroots level to enforce protected categories, and that governments It is concluded that the government should take the initiative in enforcing the law.
“Sport is not influenced by an individual’s declared identity, but it is influenced by their biological sex,” the report states. “Unlike many policy areas, the solution to this particular policy problem is simple: in all sexually influenced sports and at all levels, the category of women must be limited to biological women. The integrity and spirit of all sports depends on it. ”
The report continues: “The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) must require all national governing bodies to update their policies within 12 months to ensure that the female homosexual category is protected. conditions, and taxpayer funds should be taken away from sports that do not protect women’s same-sex sports.”
The report, written by Policy Exchange’s head of biological issues and equality and identity, Lottie Moore, argues that even community sporting events such as parkruns should be under threat of sanctions. Praised for its community-led approach to increasing physical activity, his Parkrun describes itself as a “positive, welcoming and inclusive” organization, with “no time limits and no one finishing last. ” explains. However, the report says Parkrun currently records participants’ self-identified gender, rather than their gender. The policy should be reversed within 12 months or public funding should be withdrawn, the report said.
The report comes at the end of a year in which elite sport continues to change its rules regarding transgender participation in women’s sports categories, albeit in an inconsistent direction. In November, the International Cricket Council banned transgender players from women’s cricket, and in March last year, the World Athletics Federation announced that transgender players who have reached male puberty or have testosterone levels above a certain level are banned from women’s cricket. Women’s competition was prohibited. World Swimming also banned trans women from competing in women’s competitions, instead creating an “open” category for all athletes. In October, The Guardian reported that there were no competitors in the “open” category at the Swimming World Cup in Berlin.
Natalie Washington of LGBTIQ+ inclusion organization Pride Sports called the Policy Exchange report “pseudoscientific political propaganda”. Trans women “have been participating alongside other women at the grassroots level for years,” she said, but “many grassroots sports and recreational activities are mixed, and often by necessity.” Ta. Without this, you may never have the required number of participants to complete the activity. ”
UK women’s activity levels remain lower than they were before the pandemic, and Washington has warned against taking any action that could further restrict their activity, even unintentionally. “People want to move and be active for a variety of reasons, and often they just want to hang out with family and friends of similar abilities, regardless of their gender,” she says.
“This is a key part of what makes sports attractive to so many people, and as a society we need to remove barriers, not just barriers, to get people active. They want to know they can participate in sports without having to take part in a cumbersome and invasive sexual test just to run around the park.”