Rugby league trailblazer Roberts condemns transgender ban

SYDNEY : Ian Roberts, the first elite rugby league player to come out as gay, condemned the sport's decision to ban transgender players from women's internationals as a setback for tolerance and inclusion in the broader community.

The International Rugby League (IRL) said on Tuesday that "male-to-female" transgender athletes would be barred from women's international competition until further notice as it conducts further research to finalise a formal policy.

The IRL's ruling follows global swimming's decision on Sunday to restrict transgender athletes from elite women's competition and to look at setting up "open" categories for transgender competition.

Former Australian rugby league international Roberts, who came out in 1995, told Reuters the IRL's decision was "disappointing" and could potentially drive transgender athletes away from sport.

"As a community I thought we had progressed past this and we had matured enough to understand this and accept every person’s right to be who they are and live their honest self, live their truthful self," he told Reuters in an interview.

"I do think there needs to be a conversation about this and how they reached that decision - and the reasons they reached that decision.

"I mean there’s so much misinformation and disinformation around this subject."

The IRL said it was working to develop criteria "based on the best possible evidence" that balanced the right to compete with the safety of participants.

Roberts said the heated debate about transgender athletes in elite sport reminded him of the controversy triggered by sportsmen coming out in the 1990s, including former soccer player Justin Fashanu.

Briton Fashanu was the first professional soccer player to come out as gay.

"It’s almost like