Sport has numerous benefits for trans youths – yet 80% feel their gender identity has prevented them from taking part
Verity Smith
4 May 2023
London's fourth Trans Pride protest in July 2022 highlighted the daily injustices faced by trans people around the world |
Hollie Adams/Getty Images
A couple of years ago, Emily, a teenager from Liverpool, approached me after being forced to leave school because of transphobic bullying and violence. Her trauma reminded me of my own youth, when I played on a woman’s rugby team and cried myself to sleep at night knowing I was trans and not a woman, but unable to tell anyone. Or, decades later, in 2017, when I was beaten up by the opposition during a game, and later outed by them as trans to the press.
Women and girls have long faced challenges in accessing sports. This can be seen in a multitude of ways, from the cancellation of the women’s UK cycling tour due to lack of funding to the tens of thousands of hours of lost PE lessons for girls, which were highlighted in the wake of the England Lionesses’ World Cup victory last year.
Now, the weaponisation of unevidenced and ideologically motivated bans on participation are building a new class of discriminated athletes: trans young people.
These new victims are being blamed for injustices not of their making. And in the process, they’re being prevented from taking part in the activities they love – activities they might otherwise have relied on as a safe haven to help them to survive the backlash against them.
As an elite trans athlete and an advocate for trans young people in sport at Mermaids, a charity that supports trans and gender-diverse children, I’m being approached by more and more trans youth – particularly trans girls – who have been told they are no longer welcome on teams they have been happily and safely part of for years.
While I was able to negotiate with the UK Football Association to help Emily find a place on a supportive team, after she faced the despair of losing access to the adults friendlies team she was previously playing for, many other trans youth have told me they are being turned away from age-appropriate clubs when they disclose their identities.
Recent research carried out by Mermaids found that 79% of trans youth felt their gender identity had been a barrier to them taking part in sport, while over half of those surveyed said negative news stories had made them worry about their participation. One young person told us: “I worry that my future is being limited by people who have no knowledge of what it is to be trans.”
Trans youth face ever-increasing attacks on their rights and dignity. Between 2021 and 2022, hate crimes targeting trans people rose by 56% in England and Wales. And now the government is considering stripping trans people’s legal rights under the Equality Act. It’s little surprise that experts have warned mental health among the trans community is at a “crisis point”.
While conducting our research, Mermaids heard how sport has specific and transformational benefits for trans young people, including offering community and friendship to a group that regularly experiences marginalisation and discrimination. One young person told us how exercise allowed them to “build my strength, hopefully changing my body [so that] I can feel more comfortable in it”.
The research also found that 63% of trans youth felt exclusion from sport has worsened their mental health.
Given this context, one might assume sporting bodies would be taking steps to make trans youth feel safe and welcome at all levels. Instead, we have seen a succession of ‘trans sports bans’ by governing bodies, forcing many trans young people to choose between being who they are and playing the sport they love.
In 2021, the UK sports councils – UK Sport, Sport England, Sport Wales, SportScotland and Sport Northern Ireland – released guidance arguing that trans inclusion could not be balanced with “fairness and safety” in competitive sport. This has resulted in a series of ‘blanket bans’ barring trans women from taking part at every level, including in rugby, a sport where I know personally the importance of a trans-inclusive approach.
These arguments have increased in popularity and are often made by those who don’t think trans women have any place in sport, and, furthermore, fail to consider the trickle-down impact these top-down policies have in preventing trans young people from accessing sports.
A recent scientific review of the available evidence found that “there is no firm basis available in evidence to indicate that trans women have a consistent and measurable overall performance benefit after 12 months of testosterone suppression”. This was found in respect to athletes at elite level, never mind at grassroots sports clubs where the vast majority of people play sport.
The authors highlight that key evidence cited by the UK Sport guidance is better described as an “argumentative essay” than a rigorous scientific paper. It is becoming increasingly clear that transphobic pressure groups and anti-trans campaigners have been central to the formation of UK sporting bodies’ discriminatory approach.
Put plainly, policies banning trans women and girls are not based on scientific consensus. Rather, they are part of an increasingly extreme political campaign that aims to erase trans youth from every aspect of public life.
Whenever I get the chance to speak with sporting bodies, I explain the impact that their words and actions have on trans young people like Emily. Rather than listening to the needs and voices of inclusive grassroots clubs and trans athletes, sport chiefs are buying into this harmful culture war narrative that suggests trans women threaten to end meaningful competition in women’s sports.
My experiences, both positive and negative, of being a trans person in sport, mean I’m invited to speak with sports clubs across the country who want to include trans youth but lack support or guidance on how to do so. Our report builds on this work, and draws on the views of trans young people, to make clear recommendations that ensure trans youth’s inclusion in grassroots sports.
Sporting bodies in the UK must follow the pioneering approach of the German football association, which this year introduced a policy that allows amateur and youth transgender and non-binary players to choose if they play in men’s or women’s teams. Equally, there must be more trans representation in sport, from role models on the pitch to trans individuals appointed at a governance level.
The answer is simple: listen to trans young people and start from the basis of inclusion. I urge all sporting policymakers to get out of their boardrooms, speak directly to trans young people, and understand the hurt their bans are causing. Everyone has the right to experience the joy of competitive sport, whether trans youth can share this must not be denied by those motivated by hate towards trans communities.
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