The Telegraph is reporting this morning that transwomen will be allowed to compete in the women’s cycling events at this years Commonwealth Games.
According to Telegraph chief sports writer Tom Morgan:
Commonwealth Games chiefs have agreed on new gender rules which could pave the way for a trans woman to race for a female cycling medal.
Telegraph Sport understands a potential contender who previously competed in male categories is in serious contention to be picked following the green light by authorities.
She has yet to formally confirm she wants to compete in Birmingham, but talks between authorities extend back a year, and have now opened the door to her potential inclusion.
Despite concerns being raised privately by others in the sport over female-athlete rights, the Commonwealth Games Federation have now removed any hurdles for her to take part.
With the Lia Thomas controversy in swimming having brought the issue into sharp focus, medical chiefs from the Games met last week to sign off their own policy for Birmingham.
Elsewhere in today’s paper, Telegraph columnist Alison Pearson put it thus:
As for the Labour party, scared witless of alienating a militant metropolitan minority, even its female MPs struggle to say what manner of being has a cervix.
A semantic difficulty which, with any luck, should continue to make them unelectable in Red Wall seats where ladies and girls tend to know exactly who they are.
Unlike Labour MP and shadow equalities minister Charlotte Nichols who tweeted: “As a former competitive swimmer, I know full well how much training is required for a title like this and anyone nastily trying to diminish Lia Thomas’s incredible achievement because of lazy transphobia should frankly pipe down. Huge congratulations to her.”
At this rate, Labour’s first female leader will be Keira Starmer. Keira who identifies as a woman to achieve a victory that eluded her as a man.
Now, who does that remind you of? Funnily enough, I think we should be grateful to Lia Thomas.
Even younger people I know, who are deeply sympathetic to the trans cause and rightly stress the vulnerability of trans women, were shocked by the towering physical discrepancy between the winner of the 500-yard freestyle at the NCAA championships and the runners-up.
If it looked wrong it’s because it was wrong.
Amen sister.
