Nadine Dorries: Women’s sport must be reserved for those born female

Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries says UK sport must follow swimming’s lead and ensure that only athletes born female are able to enter female competitions, saying the issue had been “ducked” for too long.

FINA, swimming’s world governing body, announced on June 19 that athletes who had been through any part of male puberty would be barred from elite female competition. Instead the sport will now seek to create an ‘open’ category for transgender female competitors.

Dorries met with representatives from football, cricket, rugby, tennis, athletics and other sports on Tuesday afternoon and made it plain that in her view national governing bodies had to act, arguing it was “inherently unfair” for women and teenage girls to compete against someone who was born biologically male.

Just met with sport governing bodies to discuss trans participation. This is a complex and emotionally charged issue - but it’s one that has been ducked for too long. We can’t pretend that sex doesn’t have a direct impact on a person’s athletic performance. (1/5) pic.twitter.com/J69U0wbNvS

“Just met with sport governing bodies to discuss trans participation,” the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport tweeted.

“This is a complex and emotionally charged issue – but it’s one that has been ducked for too long. We can’t pretend that sex doesn’t have a direct impact on a person’s athletic performance.

“Asking women and teenage girls to compete against someone who was biologically born a male is inherently unfair.

“So today I have made my position absolutely clear: I expect sporting bodies to follow the policy that competitive women’s sport must be reserved for people born of the female sex.

“We need to do this in a way that protects and