Canadian Women & Sport and the CCES Oppose World Rugby Ban of Trans Women
(Ottawa, Ontario – November 27, 2020) – Canadian Women & Sport and the CCES have written a letter to Brett Gosper, CEO of World Rugby, to express our strong opposition to World Rugby’s ban on transgender women athletes. In doing so, we join 84 academics, Athlete Ally, Egale Canada and others in urging World Rugby to repeal their recent ban preventing transgender women from participating in women’s rugby.
Read the full letter, which was sent on November 27, 2020.
This ban violates the human rights of transgender and gender diverse people, forcing them out of sport and denying them the benefits it brings. The discriminatory ban perpetuates the harmful and marginalizing practice of gender policing in women’s sport.
We applaud Rugby Canada’s assertion that “Rugby participation in Canada will continue to be guided by the organization’s existing Trans Inclusion Policy and the Canadian Charter of Rights & Freedoms,” in which gender identity and expression are protected. It sets a strong precedent that a major rugby governing body has recommitted to ensuring that all participants, including transgender women, have access to programming that is comfortable, safe, and values their right to participate.
To learn more about creating inclusive sport environments to trans participants, read and apply the CCES’s Trans Policy Guidance.