This week, a soccer tournament in Sydney, Australia made headlines around the world when five transgender women led a team to victory in a four-week women’s tournament. The team has now released a statement defending the inclusion of transgender athletes.
Flying Bats FC calls itself “the biggest LGBTQIA+ women’s and non-binary football club in the world.” And in response to criticism this week, the club defended the five transgender players who participated on the team and helped lead it to victory in the tournament, saying “we are a club that values cisgender and transgender players equally.”
“As a club, the Flying Bats FC stand strongly for inclusion, and pride ourselves on safe, respectful and fair play, the promotion of a supportive community for LGBTQIA+ players, officials and supporters, and the significant physical, social and mental health benefits that participation in sport brings, especially to marginalised members of the LGBTQIA+ community. We are a club that values our cisgender and transgender players equally,” the club said in a statement according to The Daily Mail Australia.
“We strongly support the Australian Human Rights Commission’s guidelines for the inclusion of transgender and gender diverse people in sport,” the statement continued. “These guidelines, along with the Sex Discrimination Act, inform the gender inclusion policies of Football Australia, Football NSW, and the North West Sydney Football Association at the community, grassroots level at which we play.”
It’s worth noting that the transgender players were in compliance with all rules.
