The Football Association (FA) is set to ban trans women from playing women’s football, following last month’s UK Supreme Court’s ruling.
The UK’s top judges ruled that the protected characteristic of “sex”, under the terms of the 2010 Equality Act, referred to “biological” women and not transgender women.
Despite the ruling, trans people are still protected from discrimination under the legislation, and former jurist Dr Victoria McCloud , the UK’s only out trans judge, has vowed to challenge the judgement.
Meanwhile, organisations have already begun responding to the outcome of the court case and Barclays Bank are to ban trans women employees from using toilets that align with their gender. And now, the FA has also reacted.
Football’s governing body had updated its trans inclusion policy prior to the ruling, allowing women to play in women’s football if their testosterone levels were lowered. However, it has now announced that an outright ban on trans players will be implemented from 1 June – the first day of Pride Month and well ahead of the start of next season.
‘We understand this will be difficult’
“We understand that this will be difficult for people who simply want to play the game they love in the gender by which they identify, and we are contacting the registered transgender women currently playing to explain the changes and how they can continue to stay involved in the game,” a spokesperson said.
“The Supreme Court’s ruling on 16 April means that we will be changing our policy. Transgender women will no longer be able to play in women’s football in England… from 1 June.”
The FA has said that there were about 20 trans women registered in amateur women’s football teams in England. There are not believed to be any playing professional football in either England or Scotland.
The change follows the Scottish Football Association’s introduction of a ban on trans women, and similar moves in other sports, despite there being no definitive evidence to suggest that trans women have a definitive biological advantage.
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