Let them play

My views on trans participation in rugby

Kia ora team!

I have been taken out with a stomach flu and so currently, the highlight of my existence was successfully eating a piece of toast.

Diet of champions

So there is a wrap I would like to write for you about PAC4 but it’ll have to wait til I’m more steady on my feet.

In the meantime, please enjoy these things I did before the virus hit.

• I had a chat to Morning Report about my top line thoughts after the Black Ferns win.

• Today, LockerRoom published my views on trans participation in rugby.

There are lots of opinions regarding trans athletes flying around at the moment, with the effective ban being announced by the world swimming authority and other sports looking to follow suit.

I fundamentally believe the opportunity that trans athletes are providing us to reexamine sports and the systems that were designed a long time ago to support the participation of primarily cis men, is a good thing.

Where as transphobia, misogyny, ridiculous hypotheticals and dodgy science are not.

Things to unpack:

• If this is the first time you are thinking about speaking about women’s sports, stop. Think about why you haven’t weighed in on any other conversation about the challenges we face and consider whether a minority group are really the biggest issue.

• If your aversion to trans participation is rooted in the idea that all cis men are stronger than all cis women, you need to unpack that. Start by looking at a photo of me and my brothers.

• If your aversion to trans women athletes is because you think that they are no different to a man wearing a dress on a stag do, you need to seriously check yourself and probably just go ahead and unsubscribe to this newsletter right now.

• If your aversion to trans women competing with cis women is rooted the idea that cis women need to be protected from them, I’m right here telling you that no I don’t. I also suggest you read up on the history of women in sport and just how much of a barrier that paternalistic view has been to our participation and progress.

This is something we as a sports community need to figure out but we also need to engage with this conversation without the taking of sides, without the spreading of fear and with the fundamental understanding that sports are for everyone.

With you,

Alice