British Rowing is asking participants to vote for transgender athletes in women's racing. Photo: SolStock
British Rowing is considering banning transgender female athletes unless they were born female in unprecedented members' vote against the sport's global governing body.
In an attempt to resolve a bitter transgender dispute that has sparked board-level tensions, British Rowing is asking 31,500 members to vote by 5pm next Friday for their preferred transgender people. policy with one option «adopting a new approach specifically for the women's/women's category, which allows only athletes who were declared female at birth to compete in the 'women's' category.»
The move is significant as British Rowing could yet be a test case for national federations seeking to deviate from globally set transgender inclusion rules. The latest World Rowing criteria allows trans-rowers to compete in elite women's racing if they can demonstrate that their serum testosterone levels are below 2.5 nanomoles per liter over a two-year period.
As it stands, British policy is still more lenient: testosterone must be less than five nanomoles per liter for trans competitors to be considered eligible. The average level for women is between 0.5 and 2.4. When the latest ruling was passed in October, Dr Mary O'Connor, a former U.S. Olympic rower, criticized British rowing for a «failure of leadership.»
Many of the country's leading rowers see this policy as fundamentally unfair, given the physical and cardiovascular benefits acquired during male puberty, benefits to which rowing, arguably the ultimate endurance sport, places so much emphasis. For the first time, British Rowing members, 45 per cent of whom are women, will now be given the opportunity to support a complete ban on rowing in women's events.
They can vote for one of three policies. : continuation of existing policies, alignment with the World Rowing threshold of 2.5 nmol/l, or, most strikingly, fencing women's rowing exclusively to biological women.
Mark Davies, chairman of British Rowing, has consistently advocated for an open category for trans rowers. At last year's World Rowing Congress, he called on the global body to change its policy on transgender people «out of concern that the hard-won progress in women's sport is being threatened.» He made the same argument at this year's meeting of European presidents in Copenhagen, where the view is believed to have gained widespread support among other federations.
The relatively short voting times this month are intended to keep members focused on the urgency of the issue. A board meeting is scheduled for May 27 to discuss the results. Even if an overwhelming majority of members voted to protect the female category, the result would still be approved by the board. One of the concerns is that if British Rowing relinquishes leadership of World Rowing, it could face the threat of litigation.
Minutes of the board meeting in September 2021 show how one female director was worried about the reaction British Rowing. too hasty to poll on transgender inclusion, urging the board to spend more time «looking at the broader issues raised». Despite this opposition and Davis's well-publicized concerns about fairness, those who sympathize with trans ideologies remain in power, and last May a male director insisted that «transgender people should be allowed to play sports, not weeded out.» «. idea.»
This view has since been enshrined as official policy, but the decision to give members a say in potentially radical rethinking illustrates the extent of the desire for change.
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