Sport Ireland sets out advice for transgender athletes in sport
Headquarters Sport Ireland
SPORT Ireland hopes to encourage more sporting bodies to formulate a clear policy for transgender and non-binary athletes by releasing its first advisory document on what is arguably the most divisive area in modern sport.
After surveying several thousand people, in and out of Irish sport, its advisory document acknowledges that there are “very differing opinions about how best to include everyone in sport.
“While many from the LGBTI+ community, transgender and non-binary people and their families, are supportive of inclusion through self-identification, this view is not shared by the vast majority of people working and taking part in sport who favoured protection of a female category (as assigned at birth).”
Sport Ireland also says there was “modest support for entry into the female category through requirement such as testosterone suppression” and stressed that “those from the sporting community were of the opinion that fairness and safety in sport should not be compromised through inclusion practices.”
But this initiative also signals that, to reflect society, Sport Ireland feels national governing bodies need to be proactive and put policies in place that are inclusive to trans and non-binary athletes.
It is understood that Irish Rugby included close to a dozen trans athletes in various levels of club rugby in recent years (mostly trans males) whose membership was judged on a case-by-case basis and a pre-agreed list of criteria.
World Rugby’s 2021 decision to bar trans players then forced the home nations to create and agree their own policy which now mirrors World Rugby’s which means trans athletes can no longer compete here.
Ladies Gaelic Football produced a policy for transgender athletes last year, reportedly on the back of a trans player being queried by a referee in a junior club game in Dublin.
The LGFA has stressed that it is committed to inclusion of trans athletes except in cases of ‘unacceptable risk’, so trans players have to fill in a special application form and, in the case of over-16s, provide medical proof of testosterone levels equal or less than 10 nanomoles per litre during the previous 12 months.
The Dublin Marathon also now reflects societal change and greater inclusivity by introducing a ‘non-binary’ entry and prize category in 2023.
This only attracted four entrants in the first year but has attracted 21 entries for 2024 and the prize fund mimics other sub-categories.
Sport Ireland’s new guide clarifies that there is an accepted 10-12% performance difference between men and women in swimming and running, 20% in jumping events and 30-50% in weightlifting ability.
The issue of whether trans female athletes retain a physiological advantage in some sports after transitioning, and for how long, is an area of great debate internationally on which scientists even disagree.
Sport Ireland noticeably says advantages can exist and “may last for several years after (hormone) therapy begins.”
It has stressed that it is only seeking to provide guidance to federations on membership eligibility and competition rules and acknowledges that these may already be set for them by their international federation.
Sport Ireland spent a year canvassing views and examining the current scientific thinking and international rules and points out that these vary not just between sporting bodies but sometimes between domestic and international bodies in the same sport.
It has collated all of this information into a guidance document which lays out the range of possible options and stresses the practical considerations that Irish federations may have to deal with, particularly if they choose to base gender categories on an entry requirement like testosterone suppression.