If I’m forced to pick between inclusivity and fairness in sport, I will always choose fairness
FAIR is fair.’ I couldn’t have put it better than Caitlyn Jenner, who, like me, welcomed the International Swimming Federation’s decision this week to ban transgender athletes from participating in women’s events if they have gone through male puberty. A day later, the International Rugby League echoed that decision – announcing it was barring male-born transgender players from competing in women’s matches while it conducted more research.
Finally, reason seems to be returning to the world of sport – and when I gather our own sporting governing bodies this week, I’ll be making it crystal clear that I expect them to follow suit.
It shouldn’t need to be said, but in the vast majority of sports, asking women and teenage girls to compete against someone born male is inherently unfair – particularly when we know there are existing challenges and barriers that stop women and girls getting involved in sport.
I have the greatest compassion for anyone who finds themselves living in a body they don’t recognise. If you’re born one sex, and want to live your life as the other, this Government and our NHS will give you all the help and support you need to do so. I want people to live the life they want to live, without fear or favour.
But we can’t pretend that sex doesn’t matter. Sex has biological consequences – that’s a scientific fact.
If you’re born a male and you go through puberty as a male, your body develops natural physical advantages over a woman’s. That makes you stronger and faster than women.
THE progress of male puberty is irreversible and will obviously have a direct impact on a person’s athletic performance. Why else has the world watched this year as a transgender female swimmer moved from a mid-500s ranking when competing as a man among Ivy League swimmers, to becoming a topranked woman, leaving her competitors literally in her wake?
Some women have turned up to ‘competitive’ fixtures, only to have already lost them before the starting whistle. What’s competitive about that? Feminists have battled too hard and for too long to watch women be effectively frozen out of our own events.
Sports have tried to balance inclusivity with fairness. Instead, they’ve offset one against the other. And in a choice between inclusivity against fairness, as Culture Secretary I will always choose fairness. The Sports Councils are clear that ‘categorisation by sex remains the most useful and functional division relative to sporting performance’ and that ‘testosterone suppression is unlikely to guarantee fairness’.
So I’m setting a very clear line on this: Competitive women’s sport must be reserved for people born of the female sex. Not someone who was born male, took puberty blockers or has suppressed testosterone. But unequivocally and unarguably someone born female.
I want all our sporting governing bodies to follow that policy. The current situation can’t be good for trans women either. I can only imagine how demoralising it must be to spend hours and hours training, pursuing dreams of winning a medal – only to have their victory overshadowed by the predictable backlash.
But there are ways to ensure everyone has their opportunity in sport, and governing bodies must explore alternatives such as inclusive open categories. That’s all I want: For young women and men, no matter what their personal journey, to be able to turn up on the day and feel like that maybe, just maybe, today could be the day they win that medal, because everyone has a fair and equal chance.
That, after all, is what competitive sport is all about. It’s why millions of people tune in to watch their favourite athletes battle it out on the court or the pitch or the pool. Why would they watch if the result was almost certainly predetermined before the athletes have even entered the arena?