The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) have become the latest governing body to ban transgender women from playing women’s rugby at all levels of the game.
The outcome on any vote into the decision amongst committee members was not disclosed, with the decision coming less than a month after England’s union (the RFU) voted by 33 to 26 to introduce a similar ban.
A statement on their website read: “The IRFU is keenly aware that this is a sensitive and challenging area for those involved and the wider LGBT+ community and will continue to work with those impacted, providing support to ensure their ongoing involvement with the game.
“Recent peer reviewed research provides evidence that there are physical differences between those people whose sex was assigned as male and those as female at birth, and advantages in strength, stamina and physique brought about by male puberty are significant and retained even after testosterone suppression.”
Anne Marie Hughes, Spirit of Rugby Manager for the IRFU, added to the statement: “The IRFU is committed to inclusivity and has worked with the players and other groups in the LGBT+ community to explain that this change is based solely on new research related to safety.
“We will continue to work to be as inclusive as we can be and to explore areas such as tag and touch rugby, which we know some of our players are already considering, refereeing, volunteering, and coaching.
“We continue to stand with the LGBT+ community, and while we accept that today some may feel disappointed in this decision, we want to again underline to them – there is a place for everyone in rugby, and we can all work together.”
Featured image: National Progress Party via Wikimedia Commons
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