On Wednesday, the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) announced that non-binary transgender women who were assigned male at birth will not be able to compete in the women’s category at a number of national tennis tournaments in the UK.
British tennis’s governing body has released a new transgender and non-binary policy and said it must strike a balance between fair competition and inclusion.
The rules do not apply to tournaments such as Wimbledon or ATP and WTA events held in the UK as the LTA is not responsible for these competitions. Domestic padel is included but excludes international events held in the UK.
“It is obvious that tennis and padel are gender-specific sports – the average man has an advantage playing against the average woman. This includes longer levers to reach and hit the ball, while increased cardiovascular fitness means easier movement around the court,” LTA said in a statement.
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It said there was broad consensus that the advantage was “likely to be largely retained for transgender women, making competition potentially unfair.”
The policy goes into effect on January 25 and applies to leagues and tournaments involving players from a variety of clubs and venues, from national championships to the local level. Single-venue events, such as club championships and friendly tournaments, will be able to set their own policies because “the aim is to provide a fun, competitive environment first and foremost so that people can feel part of the local tennis community. “
“We want to encourage local venues to ensure they are as inclusive as possible of trans and non-binary people by providing opportunities to compete in a welcoming environment,” the LTA said.
