Tough for transgender inclusion and fairness to 'co-exist' in sport, says UK report

London: The inclusion of transgender people, fairness and safety “cannot co-exist in a single competitive model” for many sports, according to a new report published on Thursday. A review concerning transgender inclusion in non-elite sport in Britain by the Sports Councils Equality Group (SCEG) says the governing bodies for each sport should decide whether they will focus on inclusion or “competitive fairness” — and safety if relevant. As a result, combat or collision sports may opt to prioritise safety or “competitive fairness” rather than inclusion. The addition of new “open” or “universal” categories in addition to the traditional ones of male and female have been suggested as a solution. This guidance, developed by Sport England, Sport Scotland, Sport Northern Ireland, Sport Wales and UK Sport after an 18-month consultation, covers community sport up to national level — not international, professional or elite sport. Meanwhile the report said “testosterone suppression is unlikely to guarantee fairness between transgender women and natal females in gender-affected sports” and there are “retained differences in strength, stamina and physique between the average woman compared with the average transgender woman or non-binary person registered male at birth”. In this year’s Tokyo Olympics, transgender athlete Laurel Hubbard made Games history when the New Zealander competed in the women’s +87kg weightlifting and thereby became the first openly transgender athlete to compete at a Games. In October last year, World Rugby became the first international sports federation to state transgender women cannot compete at the elite and international level of the women’s game “on safety grounds”. The SCEG said it hoped its guidance would “open up rather than close down” opportunities for everyone to take part in sport. “While our consultation found that there was widespread support for ensuring that sport was a welcoming place for everyone in society, including for transgender people, it also highlighted that there were concerns relating to safety and fairness in relation to transgender inclusion, particularly in female sport” the report added. “And that there was no consensus on a single solution as to how this should be addressed.”