​RFU COUNCIL VOTES IN FAVOUR OF CHANGE TO GENDER PARTICIPATION POLICY

 July 2022, the RFU Council has voted in favour of updating its gender participation policy for rugby in England from the start of the 2022/23 season with 33 in favour, 26 against and 2 abstaining.  You can read the full statement from the RFU here.

Liverpool Tritons Inclusive Rugby along with many other English teams from IGR and allies actively sought to stop this ban being voted in.  We also protested the ban the following day at Pride in Liverpool and with our fellow IGR Team Manchester Village Spartans at Manchester Pride.

Chair of Liverpool Tritons, Mikey Rowlands spoke to the Liverpool Echo ​condemning the policy, which you can read here.

​A statement from Chair of Liverpool Tritons 2022/23, Mikey Rowlands, about the RFU decision on its gender inclusion policy.

Liverpool Tritons Inclusive Rugby, along with IGR, fellow IGR clubs and allied clubs, condemn the ban imposed by the RFU on transgender women and the further barriers placed upon transgender men.

The RFU have failed to provide any evidence on how they have engaged with trans players in the game or with IGR.  The policy disregards the real-life experiences of trans players, their teammates and opponents whilst ignoring the approaches of inclusive teams.  The RFU can no longer claim that Rugby Union is inclusive or a “sport for all” and we call upon them to remove such a statement from all forms of media until this ban has been overturned and they can prove to the LGBTQ+ community they are the welcoming organisation they have claimed previously.

Exclusion of women who are trans will harm all women.  It will invite policing of cisgender women who present as gender non-conforming, subjecting them to invasive tests and accusations of not being a “real” woman.  We should not be policing women’s gender identities, full stop.

Additionally, the further barriers placed on transgender men will effectively force them to out themselves to clubmates, provide personal medical information and will cause unnecessary anxiety. 

We stand with all of those in our Rugby Family affected by this draconian policy, as we do with the Trans Community.  We will continue to fight this policy and ensure that rugby truly is for anyone and everyone.