Stonewall are wrong to oppose rugby’s trans women ban

Friday’s announcement that biological males should not play women’s rugby may be sound like common sense, but it has already provoked a furore. The new guidelines published by World Rugby, organisers of the Rugby World Cup, apply to the elite and international levels of the game. In their statement they explained,

‘As with many other sports, the physiological differences between males and females necessitate dedicated men’s and women’s contact rugby categories for safety and performance reasons. Given the best available evidence for the effects of testosterone reduction on these physical attributes for transgender women, it was concluded that safety and fairness cannot presently be assured for women competing against trans women in contact rugby.’

That is hardly a surprising conclusion. Over a year ago, for example, transgender woman Kelly Morgan was folding opponents ‘like a deckchair’ while playing for Porth Harlequins Ladies team in South Wales.

But in these strange times, when so many no longer seem to know the difference between men and women, World Rugby called in the experts to a ‘ground-breaking’ workshop to understand the medical, physiological, psychological, risk, socio-ethical and sporting environment.