'Damned if You Do, Damned, if You Don't': 100 British Women Athletes Express Fears of Speaking Out Against Trans Athletes
Getty Images/Kelly Defina
Over 100 elite British women athletes have expressed fear about publicly opposing transgenders in women's sports.
“More than 100 elite British sportswomen have told the BBC they would be uncomfortable with transgender women competing in female categories in their sport,” noted the BBC. “But many have expressed fears over sharing their opinion publicly because of concerns they would be seen as discriminatory.”
One woman athlete told the outlet she could lose her career if she were to speak out.
“You can receive abuse if you support it or don't support it. Damned if you do, damned if you don't,” said another woman.
“It makes it too much of an unfair playing field, regardless of what sport you are competing in,” another said.
The women, like most women, said to the BBC in a study that they feel transgenders should have their own leagues to compete as opposed to entering women's spaces.
Argentine football player Mara Gomez (R) trains with her first-division women's football team, Villa San Carlos, in La Plata, Argentina, on February 14, 2020. (JUAN MABROMATA/AFP via Getty Images)
“Among the concerns from athletes was that having transgender women in female categories was like 'going back in time and putting women at the bottom of the pile again,' and that it created an 'unfair playing field' and could be 'harmful,'” BBC said.
The questionnaire focused on 615 athletes, including transgenders, in 28 sports. Only 143 responded to the study overall, indicating that those uncomfortable with “transgender participation in elite women's categories outnumbered those comfortable by 10 to one from the respondents.” However, the results should not be “taken as representative of how elite British sportswomen feel across the board.”
U.K. sports minister Stuart Andrew told BBC that “fairness should be the primary consideration” on the issue of transgenders competing in women's sports.
“When it comes to the participation of transgender athletes in competitive sport, I firmly believe that fairness has to be the primary consideration,” Andrew said. “I continue to work closely with sport governing bodies to ensure clear direction is in place that shows compassion to all athletes while protecting the integrity of women's sport.”
Transgender woman Lia Thomas of the University of Pennsylvania talks to a reporter after winning the 500-yard freestyle at the NCAA Division I Women's Swimming & Diving Championship on March 17, 2022, in Atlanta, Georgia. (Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
The study comes after the U.K. National Health Service (NHS) banned the use of puberty blockers on minors dealing with transgenderism. The NHS England based its decision on insufficient evidence of the procedure’s safety or clinical effectiveness. The U.K. government also endorsed the “landmark decision,” hailing it as being in the “best interests of children.” NHS England proposed a ban on the procedure last June and issued the definitive decision following a review from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).
Paul Roland Bois directed the award-winning Christian tech thriller EXEMPLUM, which can be viewed for FREE on YouTube or Tubi. “Better than Killers of the Flower Moon,” wrote Mark Judge. “You haven’t seen a story like this before,” wrote Christian Toto. A high-quality, ad-free stream can also be purchased on Google Play or Vimeo on Demand. Follow him on Twitter @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.
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