{"id":150349,"date":"2025-06-01T20:40:15","date_gmt":"2025-06-01T20:40:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/150349\/"},"modified":"2025-06-01T20:40:15","modified_gmt":"2025-06-01T20:40:15","slug":"on-the-day-transgender-women-soccer-players-face-a-ban-in-england-they-play-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/150349\/","title":{"rendered":"On the day transgender women soccer players face a ban in England, they play on"},"content":{"rendered":"

LONDON (AP) \u2014 For soccer-loving transgender women in England, it\u2019s been a tough day, as the ban on their participation in women\u2019s teams came into force.<\/a><\/p>\n

To show its solidarity with the community and against the decision by the governing body of English soccer (football), Goal Diggers Football Club, a London-based trans-inclusive women\u2019s team, held a tournament Sunday.<\/p>\n

The message was clear. Yes, it\u2019s a sad day, but no one will stop us playing the sport we love.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Amy<\/p>\n

Amy Lester gives out instructions just ahead of the start of an inclusive six a side soccer friendly tournament in London, Sunday, June 1, 2025. (AP Photo\/Alastair Grant)<\/p>\n

Amy Lester gives out instructions just ahead of the start of an inclusive six a side soccer friendly tournament in London, Sunday, June 1, 2025. (AP Photo\/Alastair Grant)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

Around 100 people \u2014 women, trans women, non-binary and gender non-conforming players \u2014took part in the \u201cLet The Dolls Play Tournament\u201d in Islington, north London. <\/p>\n

And everyone present appeared to find comfort in their solidarity despite the occasional foul, intentional or not.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know they\u2019re not going take away this community, my friends,\u201d said Paula Griffin, a 60-year-old transgender woman. \u201cAnd there\u2019s such a powerful message coming from that, that the people who care about women\u2019s sport are the people who play the women\u2019s sports. And these are the people that are my friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Players<\/p>\n

Players put up a banner on the railing surrounding the soccer pitches ahead of an inclusive six a side soccer friendly tournament in London, Sunday, June 1, 2025. (AP Photo\/Alastair Grant)<\/p>\n

Players put up a banner on the railing surrounding the soccer pitches ahead of an inclusive six a side soccer friendly tournament in London, Sunday, June 1, 2025. (AP Photo\/Alastair Grant)<\/p>\n

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Griffin, like the others, are still dismayed by the decision last month by England\u2019s Football Association to ban transgender women from playing on women\u2019s soccer teams from June 1 following a U.K. Supreme Court ruling<\/a> in April.<\/p>\n

The F.A. said it had decided to change its rules that had allowed transgender athletes to play in women\u2019s soccer teams if they had reduced testosterone levels. <\/p>\n

The decision came in the wake of the ruling from the U.K.’s Supreme Court that defined a woman<\/a> for anti-discrimination purposes as someone born biologically female. The head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission<\/a> said after the ruling that transgender women would be excluded from women\u2019s toilets, hospital wards and sports teams.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Amy<\/p>\n

Amy Lester gives out instructions just ahead of the start of an inclusive six a side soccer friendly tournament in London, Sunday, June 1, 2025. (AP Photo\/Alastair Grant)<\/p>\n

Amy Lester gives out instructions just ahead of the start of an inclusive six a side soccer friendly tournament in London, Sunday, June 1, 2025. (AP Photo\/Alastair Grant)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

While the ruling was cheered by some feminist groups, it was condemned by trans-rights groups who said it would have a broad and detrimental impact on daily life.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really upset me,\u201d said Billie Sky, a 28-year-old transgender woman. \u201cI have to say, this has been a really hard week. I\u2019ve struggled to get out of bed at times. I\u2019m doing my best to get through work and come to things like this, but it\u2019s, it\u2019s really difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n

The issue has been polarizing in the U.K. and beyond, particularly in the United States, where President Donald Trump has signed executive orders<\/a> to prohibit participation of transgender athletes in sports and to use a rigid definition of the sexes<\/a>, rather than gender, for federal government purposes. The orders are being challenged in court<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For those present at the tournament in north London on Sunday morning, the fight will go on but for now, it\u2019s about keeping the sport they love close.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s the whole point of today, is we\u2019re trying to just reclaim the day and make it a really joyous time to spend together,\u201d said Jahnavi Kalayil, a 26-year-old woman. \u201cAnd I think it\u2019s definitely happened, everyone\u2019s had a really great time. Whether winning or losing the games, it\u2019s more about just coming together as a community and making sure we\u2019re standing up for our trans siblings.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A team taps hands during an inclusive six a side soccer friendly tournament in London, Sunday, June 1, 2025. (AP Photo\/Alastair Grant)<\/p>\n

A team taps hands during an inclusive six a side soccer friendly tournament in London, Sunday, June 1, 2025. (AP Photo\/Alastair Grant)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LONDON (AP) \u2014 For soccer-loving transgender women in England, it\u2019s been a tough day, as the ban on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":150350,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5008],"tags":[64237,748,32,393,5566,20485,4179,4884,64236,10031,79,16,15,263],"class_list":{"0":"post-150349","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-england","8":"tag-billie-sky","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-donald-trump","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-gender","13":"tag-gender-in-sports","14":"tag-general-news","15":"tag-great-britain","16":"tag-paula-griffin","17":"tag-soccer","18":"tag-sports","19":"tag-uk","20":"tag-united-kingdom","21":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114610046553769904","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150349"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150349\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}