UK Athletics wants open category for male and transgender athletes

UK Athletics wants a alteration successful authorities to guarantee the women's class is lawfully reserved for competitors who are recorded pistillate astatine birth.

Chair Ian Beattie said the governing assemblage wanted athletics to beryllium a "welcoming situation for all", but added it had a work to "ensure fairness" successful women's competition.

"We would entreaty to each those engaged successful this treatment online to stock their thoughts successful a mode that is respectful of the differing opinions and delicate quality of the debate," said Beattie.

UKA disagrees with the usage of testosterone suppression for transgender women arsenic determination is "currently nary scientifically robust, autarkic probe showing that each antheral show vantage is eliminated".

UKA added it has seen "no grounds that it is harmless for transgender women to trim their hormonal levels by testosterone suppression", and that determination is "insufficient probe to recognize the effects connected transgender women if specified testosterone suppression is carried retired suddenly".

Therefore it would alternatively similar to reserve the pistillate class for those who were recorded pistillate astatine commencement and person not undergone transition.

UKA does not judge the 'sporting exemption' introduced successful the Equalities Act of 2010 allows them to lawfully exclude transgender women successful possession of a Gender Recognition Certificate from competing.

BBC Sport understands the authorities disagrees with UK Athletics' stance that the instrumentality does not let it to prohibition transgender women from pistillate events connected fairness grounds.

It believes the 2010 Equality Act does let sports to support the pistillate category.

Last year, British Triathlon became the archetypal British sporting assemblage to found a caller 'open' category successful which transgender athletes tin compete.

• World Athletics proposes caller transgender ineligibility rules
• Listen to The Sports Desk podcast: Sport's transgender conundrum
• Q&A: Transgender women successful athletics - cardinal questions answered
• Newsnight study - should trans athletes vie successful pistillate categories?
• What bash the scientists say?

UKA's stance contrasts with that of World Athletics, which has projected continuing to let transgender women to vie successful pistillate planetary way and tract events.

The satellite governing assemblage has said its "preferred option" was to tighten the sport's eligibility rules, but inactive usage testosterone limits arsenic the ground for inclusion.

A argumentation papers suggesting the amendments to its transgender inclusion argumentation has been sent to World Athletics' subordinate federations arsenic portion of a consultation process earlier a ballot adjacent month.

British changeable putter Amelia Strickler claimed the revised rules "would permission women astatine a superior disadvantage", portion long-distance runner Eilish McColgan said "a batch much enactment needs to beryllium done" astir the imaginable advantages of transgender women competing successful elite pistillate athletics.

Other sports person banned transgender women from participating successful elite pistillate contention if they person gone done immoderate portion of the process of antheral puberty amid concerns they person an unfair advantage.

In June 2022, World Athletics president Lord Coe welcomed the determination by Fina - swimming's satellite governing assemblage - to halt transgender athletes from competing successful women's elite races if they had gone done immoderate portion of the process of antheral puberty, insisting "fairness is non-negotiable".

Fina's determination followed a study by a taskforce of starring figures from the satellite of medicine, instrumentality and athletics which said that going done antheral puberty meant transgender women retained a "relative show vantage implicit biologic females", adjacent aft medicine to trim testosterone.

Fina besides aimed to found an 'open' class astatine competitions for swimmers whose sex individuality is antithetic than their enactment recorded astatine birth.

While specified moves person been praised for protecting pistillate sport, immoderate critics person said these rules are discriminatory.

Olympic diving champion Tom Daley was "furious" astatine Fina's approach, saying: "Anyone that's told that they can't vie oregon can't bash thing they emotion conscionable due to the fact that of who they are, it's not on."

US winger and two-time World Cup victor Megan Rapinoe also criticised the exclusion of transgender women successful immoderate sports.

The Rugby Football League and Rugby Football Union besides banned transgender women from competing successful female-only forms of their games.

It followed World Rugby becoming the archetypal planetary sports federation to accidental transgender women cannot vie astatine the elite and planetary level of the women's crippled successful 2020.

• Do much costly AA batteries past longer? Sliced Bread is charged up to find out
• Why has Bad Education made a comeback? Jack Whitehall tells each astir the cult sitcom