0 Comments
The Football Association (FA) has announced that transgender women will be banned from playing in women’s football from 1 June. It is a response to the Supreme Court ruling earlier this year that the term ‘women’ only refers to biological women.
The FA has announced that transgender women will be barred from playing professional football from 1 June.
The decision is a response to the Supreme Court ruling earlier this year that concluded the term ‘woman’ only refers to biological women. Public response has been deeply divided, with much celebration and concern on either side of the issue.
What’s more confusing is that last month the FA ruled that transgender women could continue to play as long their testosterone levels were below 5nmol/L for at least a year. The FA has reportedly since received legal advice and been told that the Supreme Court ruling dictates a U-turn on that original announcement.
The Scottish FA also announced a similar policy two days ago.
According to the FA, this new decision will affect twenty registered transgender players in England. The organisation says it will contact all of them to explain the changes and provide personal support.
In a statement, the FA said: ‘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.’
This announcement will now put pressure on other sporting bodies in the UK to follow suit and initiate a sport-wide ban of transgender players. It has long been a contentious subject in the UK, especially as far as physical exercise and sporting is concerned.
In fact, transphobia is reportedly on the rise in the UK. In 2023, hate crime against transgender people reached record highs in England and Wales, jumping 11%.
Despite only affecting a small fraction of the population, transgender issues remain at the top of the political debate list and can cause deep divide amongst UK voters.
