Earlier this year, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) decided to reverse years of trans inclusion in the amateur game, imposing a blanket ban on trans women being able to play women\u2019s cricket. This ban has been insisted upon even where clubs and leagues want to continue to be inclusive. We believe this is unlawful, and we\u2019re taking legal action to fight back.<\/p>\n
This ban wasn\u2019t about the top athletes, or sensitive decisions considering fairness and safety. Rather, their position seems to be that, following the For Women Scotland decision, it cannot be discriminatory to exclude trans women from women\u2019s sport \u2013 and they are under no obligation to justify it. We think they are wrong.<\/p>\n
Blanket bans excluding trans people from playing grassroots sports can have a serious detrimental impact on those people\u2019s lives. For many trans people, participation in amateur sports isn\u2019t just a way to get exercise \u2013 it\u2019s where they find community and make friends. And those being banned don\u2019t just risk isolation \u2013 they risk being outed when asked to explain why suddenly they can no longer play. We don\u2019t think trans people should be put in this position just because they want to play sports with their friends.<\/p>\n
We have instructed a top legal team and informed the ECB that we think they are acting unlawfully. We plan to challenge their policy of exclusion, and have commenced pre-action correspondence outlining the unlawfulness of their position.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Over the weekend, we heard that sports teams at universities are now being told they must implement such bans, even when they want to remain inclusive. Now is the moment to make clear that we think that blanket, unjustified trans sports bans are unlawful, and we plan to fight them.<\/p>\n
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