Townhall has covered time and time again how the governing bodies of sports have adjusted rules to allow males who think they’re women to compete against women. Of course, this means that men like Will “Lia” Thomas walk away from competitions with awards while deserving female athletes miss out.
Now, another governing body has announced that athletes can compete in their sport and align with their “gender identity” instead of their sex.
Going forward, transgender Irish dancers can compete in categories that match their gender identity, the An Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha (CLRG) decided. This was first reported by The Irish Independent.
“As a world-wide organisation welcoming dancers from many different backgrounds, CLRG is committed to creating a safe and inclusive environment for every dancer in our community,” CLRG chairperson Sandra Connick reportedly said. She added that there’s been “considerable internal and external discussion concerning the eligibility of transgender dancers to enter competitions that align with their gender identity.”
“We understand the matter is a divisive subject that generates strong opinions and CLRG has been listening to the views of all teachers, dancers and parents, while also seeking professional legal, reputational and peer organisation advice on the subject,” she continued.
Transgender Irish dancers now allowed to compete in categories matching their gender identity https://t.co/pHdR434MEm
— Irish Independent (@Independent_ie) February 7, 2024
The outlet noted that late last year, an American male who identifies as a girl qualified to compete in this year’s world championship in the sport. Reportedly, this individual competed as a male. As a result, parents complained that he won competing against females (via the Irish Independent):
Some had put forward motions to the CLRG membership seeking to ban transgender boys and girls from competing in categories that match their gender identity.
In a memo to members this week CLRG chairperson Sandra Connick said that over the last number of weeks “there has been considerable internal and external discussion concerning the eligibility of transgender dancers to enter competitions that align with their gender identity”.
Reportedly, CLRG members took part in a “half-day transgender educational forum” specifically centered around trangender athletes. Now, the governing body is drafting a new inclusivity, equality and diversity policy to reflect its stance on transgender athletes.
Some sports that allowed transgender athletes eventually backpedaled their inclusive policies. In 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) updated its transgender elite athlete guidelines this week in an effort to “preserve” fairness in women’s sports following backlash from its previous guidelines that were lenient towards trans athletes.