Debate over inclusion of transgender Kiwis in community sport

The Human Rights Commission (HRC) is slamming the coalition Government’s move to withdraw guidelines for transgender New Zealanders participating in community sport.

The guiding principals were intended to make sport more inclusive for transgender Kiwis.

They allowed people to participate in community sports teams, rather than elite sports, based on their gender identity.

“It’s a sad day when the Government directs the kaitiaki of our play, active recreation, and sport system in Aotearoa New Zealand to withdraw the Guiding Principles for the Inclusion of Transgender People in Community Sport and remove the document from their website,” Disability Rights Commissioner and Rainbow rights spokesperson Prudence Walker says.

“Sport has been widely recognised as a human right, promoting the values of non-discrimination, respect, fairness, and equal opportunities for all.

“At the core of the Sport NZ guidelines was the principle of inclusion.

“Sport has many physical, social, and psychological benefits which should be accessible to all.

“This is especially so for those who face high rates of discrimination, as transgender people do.”

Walker says the principles were the result of extensive consultation over two years and were written in response to calls for help from national sporting organisations.

“There are many good examples of inclusive sports that are not gender specific and those where people of all sporting abilities participate.

“We encourage sporting organisations to continue to support inclusion.”

The HRC says research shows transgender and non-binary New Zealanders face significant barriers to participate in sport and recreation, doing so at about half the rate of the general population.

Green Party List MP Benjamin Doyle, who uses “they/them” pronouns, says their party condemns the Government’s decision to abandon guidelines outlining how transgender athletes can be included in community sport.

“Everyone deserves to feel safe in sport, including our trans whānau.

“The transgender inclusive community sport guidelines were developed in recognition that not everyone has the tools to know how to include transgender people in sports, but everyone has the capacity to love their communities enough to learn.

“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.

“[Sport and Recreation] Minister Mark Mitchell said himself there was nothing wrong with the guidelines.

“It’s abundantly clear this is a political move to appease coalition partners and appeal to some of the most hate-filled corners of our society.”

But the organisation Save Women’s Sports Australasia (SWSA) says it welcomes the decision by Sport NZ to dump a policy framework that “supported boys and men playing in girls and women’s sport”.

“We’ve fought against this ideological policy for years as, while the intent was honourable, it was obvious that an objective to include males who identify as female in women’s sport could not be done without compromising fairness and safety in sport for our female participants,” spokeswoman Ro Edge says.

“It’s great this Government has finally recognised inclusion was incompatible with fairness and safety and thrown out the Guiding Principles.

“Most international sporting federations have updated their eligibility criteria to balance inclusion with fairness and safety and have typically enabled transgender athletes to compete in the category aligned with their biological sex or in mixed-sex teams.”

Sport and Recreation Minister Mark Mitchell says having considered the review and draft transgender guiding principles, the Government has decided to not be involved in setting guidelines related to gender in sport, and for sporting organisations to continue to make their own decisions.

“The Government has a role in making sport accessible to all New Zealanders by creating opportunities, not in providing principles as to who should be included and how.

“This delivers on the National-New Zealand First coalition agreement to ‘ensure publicly funded sported bodies support fair competition that is not compromised by rules related to gender’.”

Sport NZ chief executive Raelene Castle told news media the organisation has been informed by the Government it shouldn’t be involved in publishing guidelines relating to gender in sport.

As a result, different sporting organisations will make their own decisions on the participation of transgender New Zealanders in community sport.