New Zealand government sporting body scraps transgender directive

A top New Zealand minister on Thursday declared “biological males have no place in women’s sports”, as the government moved to scrap guidelines for transgender athletes in local competitions.

Sports around the world are wrestling with how to govern transgender participation, with the US Olympic Committee and English Football Association among those to recently restrict trans athletes from women’s sport.

Government agency Sport NZ in 2022 developed “guiding principles for the inclusion of transgender people in community sport”.

Senior government minister Winston Peters—New Zealand’s top diplomat—said on Thursday the “woke” guidelines had been scrapped.

“The state has no place in people’s bedrooms—and biological males have no place in women’s sports,” Peters said in a statement.

“This is purely about ensuring there is safety and security for girls and women in the sports they play at every level.”

New Zealand has for years been seen as a world leader in allowing transgender participation in sport.

Weightlifter Laurel Hubbard in 2021 at Tokyo became the first openly transgender woman to compete at the Olympics, entering the over-87 kilogramme women’s category.

The now-dropped guiding principles included wellbeing and safety, anti-discrimination and anti-bullying.

They gave advice on providing private spaces in bathrooms and using gender-inclusive language.

“Transgender people can take part in sports in the gender they identify with,” the guidelines read, according to national broadcaster Radio New Zealand.

‘Failing transgender people’

Sports organisations were not bound by the guidelines.

Sport NZ chief executive Raelene Castle said the guidelines were dropped at the request of the government.

“The government has directed Sport NZ to stop all work on the Guiding Principles for the Inclusion of Transgender People in Community Sport and remove them from our website,” Castle said.

“As a result of this decision, the guiding principles will no longer be available and the document has been removed from the Sport NZ website. Sporting organisations will continue to make their own decisions on the participation of transgender people in community sport and there are a range of expert organisations that can provide support.”

In a statement, the Professional Association for Transgender Health Aotearoa said it was “deeply disappointed” by the change.

The decision would worsen an “unwelcoming and isolating culture for trans and non-binary people in sport”, it said.

Benjamin Doyle, a member of the opposition Green Party, said the government was “failing transgender people”.

“Everyone deserves to feel safe in sport,” Doyle said.

“These guidelines were just that—guidelines that could keep our communities safe, which no one was bound to adhere to, and now they’ve been scrapped.”

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