Culture secretary Lucy Frazer wants clearer policy on transgender athletes
- Published
Lucy Frazer is the secretary of state for culture, media and sport
UK culture secretary Lucy Frazer has called on sporting bodies to "take an unambiguous position" and ban transgender athletes competing in elite women's sport.
Frazer met with sporting organisations, including the Football Association (FA) and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), this week to discuss the topic.
She said bodies have a "duty" to women.
"It is clear today that several sports authorities are not going far or fast enough," she said, writing in the Mail., external
She added: "Sporting bodies have a duty to women competing in sport to set out clear guidance and take an unambiguous position.
"By protecting the female category, they can keep women's competitive sport safe and fair and encourage the young girls who dream of one day being elite sportswomen.
"We must get back to giving women a level playing field to compete. We need to give women a sporting chance."
Frazer referenced the Cass Review, published last week, which found children have been let down by a lack of research and "remarkably weak" evidence on medical interventions in gender care.
"Among the many lessons of the Cass Review, it has shown us that inaction and a failure to confront the issues at stake cannot be an option," she added.
Frazer highlighted how "individual sports like cycling and swimming have both made positive progress" in this area.
"By implementing an 'open' category for transgender athletes to compete against those with a birth sex of male, the 'female' category remains solely for those with a birth sex of female," she said.
"Everyone can take part and nobody experiences an unfair advantage."
What have sports done?
World Netball recently banned transgender women from competing in women's international competition because it was a "gender affected activity".
In June 2022, swimming's world governing body Fina voted to stop transgender athletes from competing in women's elite events if they had gone through any part of the process of male puberty.
The Rugby Football League and Rugby Football Union also banned transgender women from competing in female-only forms of their games.
World Athletics banned transgender women from competing in the female category at international events, while world cycling's governing body the UCI ruled transgender women would be prevented from competing in female events.
Transgender women have also been barred by the International Cricket Council from playing in international women's matches, while the ECB said last year their policy was under review but it would consider the ICC guidelines.
The FA's transgender policy says English law does allow separate competitions to be organised for men and women. However, it states players may apply to play in a league of their "affirmed gender" - that is, the gender they identify as, rather than their birth sex - and each application will be considered on a case-by-case basis, determined by the "safety of the applicant and other players" and "fair competition".