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Welcome for US ban on males in female sport

The Countess advocacy group has welcomed the US ban this week on men participating in female sport.

Spokeswoman Sorcha Nic Lochlainn said: “We, along with our international partners, wholeheartedly welcome this intervention by US President Donald Trump.

“It should never have happened that girls and women were put in the position of having to compete against and share facilities with males."

US President Donald Trump had recognised that it was not inclusive to sweep aside women and girls’ rights to safety, fairness, and privacy, she said.

She added that media framing of this intervention as banning ‘transgender women and girls’ was deliberately confusing.

Physiological advantages

“Sex matters in sport because being male confers physiological advantages that cannot be removed. The female category is there to allow girls and women have an opportunity to play, compete, and excel on a level playing field.

“Allowing some males to ‘identify into’ female sport completely undermines this,” she said.

Girls had lost medals, scholarships, and opportunities because of the practice, and had had their safety and dignity undermined by the presence of males in their changing rooms, she added.

Nic Lochlainn said that women and girls must be put first in their sports.

“We call on Irish schools and sporting organisations to act now to protect women’s sport,” she said.