Question Period Note: Transgender inclusion in Sport

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has ruled that any player who has been through male puberty is not permitted to compete in the elite-level women’s game. The new regulations affect Canadian transgender cricketer Danielle McGahey, who is no longer eligible to play in the female category. The ICC’s ruling follows nine months of consultation, ‘is founded in science,’ applies only to international cricket, and will be reviewed after two years. Transgender advocacy groups say excluding trans-athletes is discriminatory.

· Sport Canada’s mission is to enhance opportunities for all Canadians to participate and excel in sport, including trans-identifying athletes.
· Sport Canada continues to support research, and to monitor emerging data and international best practices to support a progressive approach to transgender inclusion in sport.
· National Sport Organizations are encouraged to develop innovative, evidence-based solutions that afford respect to trans-identifying athletes, while preserving fairness and safety for sport and female athletes.

· In sport, inclusion is achieved by protecting spaces for disadvantaged populations to participate fairly and safely (e.g., age, weight, sex, disability).
· The International Olympic Committee recently instructed International Federations to develop their own policies. The World Rugby Union, World Aquatics, World Athletics, and the International Cycling Union have since determined that sex segregation is necessary to ensure fairness and safety for female participants.
· National Sport Organizations (NSOs) are bound by the policies when hosting International Federations - sanctioned events.
· The Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport’s 2016 guidance for NSOs has drawn criticism and is under review. Sport Canada has not endorsed this policy, and adoption by sport organizations is not a condition of funding.
· Public opinion research demonstrates strong support for including transgender identifying athletes in new ways (e.g. open gender categories) that preserve fairness and safety for all.

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