14/10/2020
World Rugby has been criticised by Stonewall after making a recommendation that transgender women cannot safely play contact rugby at the highest levels of the sport. Transgender men are allowed to play in the men's game. The guidance can be interpreted by national rugby boards. Nancy Kelley, speaking for the long standing and respected LGBTQ charity Stonewall, remarked “The proposals were based on hypothetical data modelling that has little relevance to the questions of fairness and safety in rugby that the policy review sought to address”. In addition, the BBC Sports website has been slammed for its coverage of the issue, which concentrated on giving airtime to discredited anti-transgender fanatics, such as the radical feminist Fair Play for Women Group and the shadowy LGB Alliance, which has little support within the community and is considered widely to be a front for far right wingers. The extreme nature of these bodies was not referred to by the BBC.