A Liberal Democrat peer was shut down during a debate in the House of Lords on trans women in sport.
On Monday (19 May), the Lords discussed what engagement the government has had with Sport England following the Supreme Court’s judgement that the definition of “sex” in the 2010 Equality Act was based on biology and excluded transgender women.
During the debate, Baroness Sarah Ludford, who has expressed support for trans-exclusionary group LGB Alliance, cited a 2022 report from Women in Sport which showed that girls disengage from sport after leaving primary school.
The survey of 4,000 teenage girls and boys, funded by Sport England, found the reasons girls stop taking part included feeling judged by others (68 per cent), lack of confidence (61 per cent), pressures of school work (47 per cent) and not feeling safe outside (43 per cent).
Baroness Ludford told the upper chamber of parliament: “Women in Sport found that more than four in 10 girls who took part in sport in primary school disengaged from sport as teenagers. It is believed that one factor is having male-bodied competitors against them.
“Some were deterred for reasons of safety and fairness, while others were deterred maybe for religious reasons.
She went on to ask: “Once the government have secured respect for the Supreme Court ruling, as I hope they will, how will they encourage women and girls to participate in sport again?”
However, there is no mention of trans women in the report, prompting Labour peer Baroness Fiona Twycross, the parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, to say: “We want everyone to be able to participate in sport in a way that ensures they feel safe. One of the ways we can do this is by ensuring that young women feel confident about their bodies, a lot of young women do not feel confident about their bodies when they are teenagers.
“I am keen that we do not tangle up different issues. I am happy to talk to the baroness about this at greater length, should she wish.”
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