Rules banning post-male puberty from competing in women's athletics are facing backlash. Photo: Getty Images/Mike Powell
Transgender women are allowed to compete in and win women's races almost six months after they were banned, a Telegraph Sport investigation has found.
Rules introduced to prevent Those who have gone through male puberty after competing in women's athletics are facing significant backlash amid serious concerns about their effectiveness and enforcement.
It follows a Telegraph Sport investigation into the impact of the ban. UK Athletics this year found:
- A team containing a trans woman finished first in a mass race in breach of new rules.
- An exception for events introduced before the ban began allowed transgender runners to continue to compete in the women's category until at least December.
- The cancellation of the races could further prolong the UKA's so-called «transitional measures».< /li>
- Rival runners fear «death threats» from the pro-trans lobby if they come out publicly.
- Trans women are officially recognized as men while the UKA consults on introducing an open category.
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In March, the UKA became the latest sporting governing body to introduce a ban on trans women competing in women's categories. event under its jurisdiction.
The rules, which came into effect almost immediately, were controversial and included an exception for competitions for which places had already been secured, but also stated that affected participants «may not receive any prizes and their results will not be taken into account in the calculation of any prizes.» either records, qualifying times or scores, or team performance.»
This was recently disrupted when a team including a trans woman, whom the Telegraph prefers not to name, took first place during a running competition in last month.
When the race director contacted us about the competition results, which can still be found online, he chalked them up to an honest mistake and said he was in the process of correcting them.
He said the runner in question entered the women's category «a couple of weeks» before the UK ban came into force, adding: «It would have been easier if she had entered later.» The rules were correctly followed when it came to individual prizes, after a runner recorded the second fastest time among women and was duly excluded from the awards ceremony.
The race director also reported that the runner's time was not initially included in the women's results posted online, but it was later added after she protested and they now consider her to be the second fastest woman.
The race director blamed it on controversy surrounding the runner's participation as a woman caused by «confusion» caused by being forced to comply with a pre-existing order.
The runner's rivals, contacted by the Telegraph, also condemned the UKA's so-called «transitional measures» that allowed her to enter the women's race category as early as December.
Indeed, many events open their entries a year in advance, effectively delays the total ban for another six months.
In addition to this, there are potential consequences of canceling a race for any reason and maintaining existing entries. the next year this is the usual practice of a mass race.
“I have to take care of my safety.”
All of this has added to the anger of those who are still forced to compete alongside transgender women but are afraid of the consequences of coming out publicly.
“This is where the injustice lies,” said a competitor. runner whose team was mistakenly awarded first place last month.
“I want to talk about it — and I really do. I know people have received death threats [online from pro-transgender lobbyists].”
She added: «I need to take care of my safety.»
She also said that while her transgender opponent was banned from reaping the rewards of continuing to race in the women's category, she feared transition measures could undermine her own hopes for this.
This included qualifying for the England Athletics Masters, the qualifying criteria for which include first, second or third place in the officially published results, which do not currently reveal whether a runner is transgender.
“This This sounds very trivial, but it's actually very frustrating because I work hard and strive to be among the top 100 women in my age group nationally,» she said, before wondering «how many more transgender people are turning into men and women, classify such results?
She added: “I train incredibly hard. I run and exercise 15 hours – and stuff like that – a week. I can't compete with someone who is a man. And sometimes you think, “Why am I worried?”
Stressing that she personally has nothing against her transgender opponent, she said she sympathizes with the fact that the latter would otherwise be forced to race in category, which is currently called a man.
«They failed us as women»
Instead, she directed her anger at the transition measures themselves, saying that the authorities «failed us as women, that they did not help deal with this, that they did not define a category — including for the protection of transgender people.»
In In response to a request from The Telegraph, England Athletics said it was “extremely unlikely” that a transgender woman’s performance would interfere with the selection of an opponent for the Masters, and that they had “processes in place to verify eligibility.”
The UKA, meanwhile, acknowledged that «extended participation times» for licensed events mean there is always the possibility that transition measures will impact the sport for some time and said that «anyone who has questions or concerns» can contact its responsible team at Dutyofcare@uka.org.uk.
The governing body, which after announcing new rules for transgender people in March, said it would work to develop more detailed policies that could include changing the men's category to Open, added: “UKA commissions the academic institution to lead and consult with transgender athletes and advocacy groups.
The goal is to determine how athletics can be as inclusive and welcoming to transgender athletes as possible within the framework of the World Athletics Regulations. The results of this consultation will also be taken into account when developing the Transgender Policy for Athletics in the UK.»
The detailed policy could come into force in March, but whether this will mean the end of transition measures remains to be seen.
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