In a new column to publish on Friday morning’s we will be taking a second glance at a story or a subject that has come to light during the week, adding a more considered perspective to the regular news cycle.
Transgender
Sport Ireland published guidelines last week on the ways in which sporting bodies should approach the question of transgender athletes.
It was a guidance note that was requested of sport but one that does not go so far as to proscribe a uniform approach, nor to override what International Federations are doing in this space.
Last year Canada became the first country to publish census data on the number of people who identify as transgender or non-binary.
The number is 0.33 percent combined or one in 300.
Translating that into an Irish context it means that of our population of 5.1 million their might be 17,000 that identify in this way.
Roughly taking an equal split that is in the region of 8,500 of those born male and now identifying as Women or non-binary.
The numbers who would benefit from engaging in sport or physical activity should be in line with the overall population and likewise the proportion who would look to play sport in a competitive fashion which is where the Sport Ireland guidance comes in.
That number will be very small. If five per cent of the general population engage in team sport where this becomes a potential safety issue then the number is down below 500 across the whole country.
And the reality is that the number will be much lower than that given the history of being seen as less welcoming to ‘others’, thankfully changing all the time, and also the multiple issues that complicate life for a transgender or non-binary person.
Yet if you listen to radio phone-ins you would imagine this is a real and present danger across the whole of society.
That is not fair on sport but it is more importantly not fair on this community.
There are many elements that go into the psychology behind gender identity. The willingness or desire to play competitive sport is not high on that list and yet the national conversation is framed around specific case instances where challenges have arisen.
We are by nature a compassionate people and the vast majority are perfectly happy to let people live the lives they have chosen.
Sport Ireland does publish physiological data from a wide range of experts that shows the difference in strength between male and female born competitors and there is an advantage.
It is why by tradition as well as common sense that sports have been organised in binary fashion so that men play with and against men, women with women.
There are sports where this is not the case but generally not where speed or strength are part of the competition.
Allowing male born transgender athletes to compete against female born women is not fair on the latter group, though the lines can become blurred if a player has gone through an extensive strength and conditioning regime is up against one that has not.
That again is why organised sport takes place at a tiered level, hierarchical to enable peer groups play against each other in a fair and safe manner.
Welcoming everyone to take part in sport and physical activity is only right and is more than just a slogan.
Huge strides have been made in welcoming many for whom sport was not an obvious choice based on physical ability or disability, sexual orientation or any of the many glorious difference that make us human.
Transgender participation will come down to individual cases and will be different for individual sports.
Having the debate is important. But having sport frame the overall picture around gender identity is wrong. Context is everything and those managing public discourse and debate should be mindful of that.
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