The New Zealand government has decided to suppress its guidelines on the inclusion of transgender people in sports competitions.
“Biological men do not take place in women’s sport,” said the country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs on Thursday (24), Winston Peters.
“It is only about ensuring the safety and protection of girls and women in sports they practice at all levels,” he added.
Recently, the United States Olympic Committee and the English Football Federation vetoed transgender women’s access to women’s competitions.
New Zealand was considered a pioneering country for years to include transgender athletes.
In 2021, the luurel Hubbard hash) became the first openly declared transgender woman to participate in the Olympic Games in Tokyo in the +87 kg women’s category.
Laurel could not raise any of the bars and was prematurely eliminated in Japan.
In 2022, New Zealand’s public agency, Sport NZ, developed “guiding principles for the inclusion of transgender people in sport”.
These principles, now removed, related mainly to safety, well-being and fighting discrimination and harassment. They also recommended providing private spaces in changing rooms and the use of inclusive language.
“Transgender people can participate in sports within the genre with which they identify themselves,” these guidelines indicated, according to Radio New Zealand.
Sport NZ Director General, Raelene Castle, confirmed the authorities’ decision.
“The government has asked Sport NZ to cease all the work on the master principles for the inclusion of transgender people in the sport and that we would withdraw them from our site,” he said.
“Sports organizations will continue to make their own decisions about the participation of transgender people,” he said.
In a statement, the Professional Association for the Health of the Transgender People of Aotearoa (New Zealand’s Name Maori) said it was “deeply disappointed” and estimated that the government’s decision will aggravate “an uncommon and insulating culture for trans and not binary people in sports.”
