Majority of female athletes support categorisation by biological sex in sport

A MAJORITY of female athletes support categorisation by biological sex rather than gender identity in women’s contact and endurance sports, in what is believed to be the largest survey to date on transgender inclusion.

Fifty-eight per cent of the 175 world-class, elite and national level female athletes supported that principle, except for precision sports such as archery. That rose to 77 per cent among those defined as worldclass athletes when talking about their own sport.

However, 81 per cent of all respondents also said inclusivity for transgender athletes had to be improved, highlighting the difficult balancing act governing bodies face in squaring inclusion with fairness.

The survey, conducted by academics at Swansea University and the Manchester Metropolitan University Institute of Sport and published in the Journal of Sports Sciences on Wednesday, obtained the views of current and former athletes from a range of sports and countries.

They included 26 world champions, 22 Olympians – including two gold, two silver and three bronze medal winners – plus six Paralympians.

It comes as Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer has urged sporting chiefs to ban transgender athletes from elite women’s sporting events.

Writing in the Mail, Ms Frazer said sporting bodies have a “duty” to set out clear guidance and take an “unambiguous position” on whether transgender athletes can compete.

She said she had spoken to representatives of sports including cricket and football at a meeting on Monday.

“For years it was too loaded an issue to touch, despite the fact that it has the potential to make women’s playing fields far from level,” Ms Frazer said, adding that “biology matters” when it comes to sport.