USA Rugby recently announced that it would ban transgender women from its designated women’s teams, as well as create a third “open” category of competition aimed at including transgender players.
in statementThe group said the decision was brought about by President Donald Trump’s executive order opposing transgender women’s participation in female-designated sports teams.
USA Rugby said the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee has determined that the order applies to all national governing bodies (NBGs) of the sport. The commission warned that failure to comply could jeopardize the organization’s NGB status.
Other sports have adopted similar policies. Last November, USA Hockey quietly adopted a rule banning transgender players from participating in homosexual programs that do not match their assigned gender at birth. The policy also prohibits transgender men undergoing hormone therapy from participating in gender-specific programs, but does not apply to programs that are not exclusive to one gender.
Similarly, the United States Tennis Association adopted eligibility rules in October that bar transgender women from participating in female-designated events.
Under USA Rugby’s new policy, competition will be divided into three categories: men’s, women’s and open.
The Open Division allows any athlete, regardless of gender identity or sex assigned at birth, to compete in USA Rugby-sanctioned events in both full-contact and non-contact events. Eligibility for the women’s division is limited to athletes designated female at birth.
“We are paying close attention to the service and support we provide to our members. To the athletes affected by this policy change, we understand the physical and mental stress this may cause,” USA Rugby said in a statement. “Going forward, we want to continue to strengthen the values of an inclusive U.S. Rugby community.”
The creation of an open category reflects a similar initiative by water sports governing body World Aquatics, which proposed an “open” category ahead of the 2023 Aquatics World Cup. The effort ultimately failed due to lack of athletes signing up, and organizers abandoned the planned event.
The ban also marks a change for USA Rugby, which previously opposed a similar move by World Rugby when the international governing body banned transgender women from competing in women’s competitions in 2020.
Some rugby clubs and organizations in the United States condemned the announcement.
“Let’s be clear: trans women are women too. They belong in our sport, our league, and our teams,” representatives for the Columbus Coyotes, an LGBTQ-inclusive rugby club in Ohio, said in an Instagram post. “This decision is unacceptable and does not reflect rugby’s core values of respect, integrity and solidarity. Exclusion is not who we are.”
rugby news site Connecting with your scrum half He called the move “abhorrent” and a “dark milestone for American rugby.”
“Kicking trans women out of the women’s division will not make the sport safer; instead, it will target a vulnerable group of athletes and communicate that they are ‘other,'” Wendy Young wrote on her website.
Rugby journalist Samantha Lovett also criticized the policy, saying it did not make the sport safer for women.
“This year is going to be an open season for bigots who question people’s gender,” Lovett said in an Instagram video. She argued that cisgender women who don’t conform to stereotypical notions of femininity, especially masculine-looking women and women of color, will increasingly be stigmatized as transgender.
“Rugby is a game built on identity that anyone can play, regardless of their shape or size,” Lovett continued. “This would erase the entire history of rugby.”
Source: Metro Weekly – www.metroweekly.com
