International Fishing Body Bans Men From Competing As Women
“Absolutely discriminatory…in those disciplines where the physical strength can make a difference.”
A major international sporting body has declared it “absolutely discriminatory” to allow men who identify as women to compete as women.
This came one week after England’s entire women’s team refused to compete in an event against a transgender competitor.
The globe’s international sport fishing body Confédération Internationale de la Pêche Sportive recently issued a letter to UK lawmakers to explain the decision, as The Telegraph reported.
"In line with the recent debates wondering around the question whether it is fair to let transgender [sic] participate in female competitions, we have finally concluded that this eventuality is absolutely discriminatory, especially in those disciplines where the physical strength can make a difference," the confederation’s president Prof. Ugo Claudio Matteoli wrote.
"Therefore, in the impossibility for CIPS to test the testosterone level at each competition and at each athlete, it is decided to prevent transgender athletes from competing in some female dedicated competitions since this moment on," the missive explained.
Matteoli noted that birth certificates may be required to compete in events "where a higher physical strength can help” if a competitor’s sex is in question.
A week before the confederation met in Rome to discuss this issue, England’s women refused to take part in the Shore Angling World Championship in Sicily because Becky Lee Birtwhistle Hodges, a man who identifies as a women, was selected as a competitor.
The international athletic community has been hard pressed in recent years to address the growing prominence of trans athletes and the question as to whether men who identify as women should be allowed to compete against women.