Campaigners respond to FA's ban on transgender women from the female game
The effects of the Supreme Court's ruling on the definition of a woman are sending ripples through sport
Campaigners against a change in policy announced by two Football Associations this week are calling a ban on transgender women in the female game as a kick in the teeth.
Yesterday (1 May), the FA confirmed the new rules will come into force in time for the new season, from June 1st.
Bosses say their policy has been updated, in light of last month's UK Supreme Court ruling regarding the Equality Act.
The governing body's transgender inclusion policy had been updated just prior to that ruling, and continued to allow transgender women to play in women's football provided they reduced testosterone levels.
Those rule changes gave the FA ultimate discretion on permitting a trans woman to play, with consideration given to safety and fairness issues.
Now though the FA has gone further and barred transgender women from the women's game.
In a statement, the body confirmed: "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."
The FA had said earlier this week it was "carefully reviewing" its policy, while the Scottish Football Association has also now updated its policy to reflect that only biological females can play in competitive female football from the start of the 2025-26 season.
The Supreme Court ruling clarified some of the terms used in the Equality Act. Within that, the court ruled that Section 195 of the Act, which allows the lawful exclusion of athletes from gender-affected sports based on sex, was "plainly predicated on biological sex" rather than certificated sex.
The FA added: "As the governing body of the national sport, our role is to make football accessible to as many people as possible, operating within the law and international football policy defined by UEFA and FIFA.
"Our current policy, which allows transgender women to participate in the women's game, was based on this principle and supported by expert legal advice.
"This is a complex subject, and our position has always been that if there was a material change in law, science, or the operation of the policy in grassroots football then we would review it and change it if necessary.
"The Supreme Court's ruling on the 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, and this policy will be implemented from 1 June 2025."
Only a small number of transgender women - around 20 - have been able to play in the grassroots game this season.
'Women's sport is defined by biology facts'
Former FA chairman Lord Triesman told The Telegraph at the time of the ruling: "The pitiful excuses of some sports bodies, and especially the FA, have been shown to be unlawful.
"Women's sport, as in all else, is defined by biology facts. There is no room for alternative propositions and the bodies concerned must reform and comply with the law at once or certainly face constant legal challenges."
Football's world governing body FIFA has been reviewing its policy on this topic over the last several years, and has been contacted for comment on the changes made by the English and Scottish FAs.
'Sport is one of the places where people discuss the issue of inclusion'
Despite setting out their reasons behind the rule change, Hits Radio pride has been hearing from a sports journalist, who has been specialising in amplifying the voices of the LGBT+ community for the past five years.
Becky Thompson told us: "At the moment, we've got under 30 trans women playing the game in England, when there's about 2.5 million registered women, so these people reflect a tiny portion of the football population that will be affected directly by this ban.
"This will surely have a very deep impact on their physical and mental health.
"It'll also hamper the social benefits of the sport, and will clearly disrupt how transgender people feel welcomed in the wider football community.
"So, clearly, this will have a much wider implication on how transgender people are viewed in society.
"Sport has such a massive impact on how trans people are viewed.
"Sport is one of the places where you, realistically, can argue about inclusion, too.
"It seems to me that football has acted as one of these spaces where this so-called war on gender has been fought, and I think the FA here have reacted to the Supreme Court's ruling quite quickly, and I think that comes from a place of fear, to be honest.
"We've seen this in sport before, when governing bodies have reacted to media headlines, or one trans athlete competing in a high-profile event, without any kind of wide-scale consultation.
"In the case of the FA, it's hugely disappointing because their stance on inclusion has almost done an about-turn, just in the space of a couple of months.
"Their policy used to be a case by case basis that would be reviewed based on testosterone levels, and statements submitted by the player. That was met by a huge amount of appreciation, and was welcomed, by the community.
"So, I don't know who this ban is really protecting, but it seems once again a case of a minority of people having the loudest voices.
"I think the repercussions of this will be felt the strongest in the grassroots sport.
"Ultimately, those transgender women who do play the sport do it in their communities, at amateur levels, and they do it because they love the game, and they want to play with their friends - which is the same reason so many of us engage with the sport.
"What I hope to see is room for more discussion, and it would be really beneficial, knowing that people had been properly consulted in the process."
Natalie Washington, a campaigner at Football v Transphobia, told the PA news agency: "The people I know that are talking about this are saying: 'Well, that's it for football for me'.
"Most people clearly don't feel that they can go and play in the men's game for reasons of safety, for reasons of comfort.
"There's a significant performance disadvantage for trans women playing against cisgender men. Certainly people don't feel safe. My experience is playing in the men's game 10, 15, years ago, was that it wasn't a safe place to be transgender or non-conforming in any way.
"That's probably improved slightly but it's still not a great place to be. And I don't think many people feel comfortable doing that."
Washington said mixed inclusive football was still "in its infancy".
"There are some really good leagues around providing inclusive support, and I hope that they'll be able to continue but they're always at risk of ideological lawfare from gender-critical groups, so it's difficult to know what the future is," she said.
"I know the FA have made some sort of overtures to say that there are routes for people to stay in the game. But I don't see that too many of those are terribly practicable for most people."
Washington said the argument that banning trans women was necessary for biological women to compete fairly and safely in women's sport had been "debunked" and added: "If you go and talk to women in grassroots football playing who have played with trans women and against trans women, they're very welcoming.
"My experience has been really good. The experiences of so many trans women playing at that level has been really good and that (safety and fairness) argument doesn't seem to be borne out by the experiences of people on the ground.
"It seems to be largely an academic argument made in television studios and radio studios around the country by people who aren't involved in football."
A 'clear and harmful message' that trans women aren't welcome
We've also been hearing from a member of the UK's first female-only club - who are pioneers in the game, having also been the first 'out' lesbian team in the country.
Becks McCready, from Hackney Women's Football Club told us: "We are proudly one of the world's oldest openly queer clubs, so we're absolutely devastated by the decision to ban transgender women from participating in women's football.
"This decision is not just a policy change, but it's a direct threat to the inclusive values that we've fought to uphold for nearly 40 years.
"It sends a clear and harmful message that transgender women do not belong in the game and we reject that entirely.
"Since 1986, our club has proudly created a space where LGBTQ+ players can play they game that they love, and as we approach our 40th year, that should be a time for celebration.
"However, it's heart-breaking to see the governing body of our sport implement this policy that actively excludes members of our community."
'Welcome and long overdue'
The decision to bar transgender women was described as "welcome and long overdue", by human rights charity Sex Matters.
Fiona McAnena, the charity's director of campaigns, told PA: "The FA has had ample evidence of the harms to women and girls caused by its nonsensical policy of letting men who identify as women play in women's teams.
"The requirement to lower their testosterone tells you that everyone knew they were not women. Thankfully, the UK Supreme Court has now confirmed this, saying it is lawful to exclude 'all men, including trans women, regardless of their GRC status'.
"Every other sporting body now needs to re-establish a genuine women's category, and this shameful period in history will finally be brought to an end."
The Supreme Court ruling clarified some of the terms used in the Equality Act.
Within that, the court ruled that Section 195 of the Act, which allows the lawful exclusion of athletes from gender-affected sports based on sex, was "plainly predicated on biological sex" rather than certificated sex.
The FA and SFA have previously allowed trans women to compete alongside and against biological women providing they reduced testosterone to accepted levels, in addition to further safety and fairness considerations.
The implications in other sports
The PA news agency also understand that English cricket is set to join football in banning transgender women from its female competitions.
Trans women have been banned from the top two tiers of elite women's cricket since the start of this year, but they are currently permitted to compete in the women's game up to and including tier three of the domestic game and throughout recreational cricket.
However, it is understood that is about to change, with directors of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) meeting today (May 2nd) to discuss legal advice they have received in the wake of a UK Supreme Court ruling last month.
The ECB has so far declined to comment.
PA understands one avenue that may be explored is an expansion of mixed inclusive football, where the FA is currently running a pilot scheme, but that too will not be without its challenges.
FIFA's transgender inclusion policy has been under review for a number of years. The sport's global governing body has been contacted for comment following Thursday's announcements from the English and Scottish FAs.
Pool updated its transgender policy last month after a legal challenge in that sport led to the commissioning of a report which found it was a gender-affected sport.
Snooker's world governing body, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), has also confirmed it is reviewing its policy in light of the Supreme Court ruling.