"Gender identity should not be a barrier to participation in football," says the UK's football governing body
Wednesday 30 May 2018 11:59, UK
The FA has condemned anti-transgender messaging in leaflets handed out by a radical feminist group outside Wembley at the Women's FA Cup final.
The group, which is called Mayday 4 Women, claimed in a post on Twitter that it had handed out over 400 of the flyers on Saturday.
An image of Hannah Mouncey, an Australian rules footballer who is transgender and is authorised to play in the Victorian Football League, was displayed on the leaflet, under the heading 'Sportswomen Shouldn't Have to Compete against Male-bodied Athletes'.
Text included on the flyer made reference to "men recognised as Transwomen", and stated that "gender non-conforming kids need feminism not hormones or surgery".
The official NHS website lists gender dysphoria as "a recognised medical condition, for which treatment is sometimes appropriate" adding that it is "not a mental illness".
The FA has had a transgender inclusion policy since 2014 and released further guidance in 2016. It reviews each application based on a "confidential conversation with the applicant... details of the evidence that The FA would require will be discussed with the person concerned".
In a statement given to Sky Sports News, the FA said it "condemns the messaging within these leaflets, as it is at odds with our ethos around trans inclusion".
The FA condemns the messaging within these leaflets as it is at odds with our ethos around trans inclusion.
The statement continued: "We have a policy in place which allows people who self-identify, and who meet our criteria, to play in affiliated football - this was a first for a football governing body and something we are proud of.
"Gender identity should not be a barrier to participation in football and we shall continue to work with the relevant stakeholders around the stadium to ensure similar messaging is reported through the relevant channels, if and when it appears."
Chelsea Pride and Arsenal's Gay Gooners released a joint statement on Wednesday.
It read: "Arsenal and Chelsea LGBT+ fans groups, Gay Gooners and Chelsea Pride, are horrified and saddened that anti-transgender leaflets were distributed outside the Women's FA Cup final at Wembley on Saturday.
"They contain significant inaccuracies and falsehoods about trans people in sport. These include testorerone levels of trans woman competing in sports and wrongly refer to trans women as 'men'.
"Arsenal Gay Gooners and Chelsea Pride both see this material as abusive and hateful to trans people. It has no place in football.
" The FA is right to condemn publicly this abuse and these harmful claims."
