We are delighted to see British Rowing’s announcement today that they will protect the female category at all levels. Their racing categories have always been Open and Women, so they never needed to allow males with a transgender identity into the Women’s category. Last year’s policy decision to also allow “non-binary” people into the female category was particularly baffling. Why would people who say they are neither male nor female want or expect to be allowed to race against women and girls? Why wouldn’t they go into the Open category? Well now, they’ll have to.
Sports are realising that this is not only about transgender inclusion, it’s about female inclusion in sport. It’s not complicated. In order to give women and girls equal opportunities in sport, they need their own teams. That’s why female categories exist. They never should have been opened up to some males, whatever their feelings or identities.
We hope that more sports will find the courage to follow. Remember, now is the time to keep up the pressure on your sport, and on all sports that have not restored fairness for women and girls. Use our draft emails to tell them we deserve fair sport just as much as men do.