NWSL and US Soccer’s lack of transgender policy targeted by conservative lobby groups | Football

While the United States Supreme Court agrees to hear two cases in the fall intended to apply the prohibitions of transgender women in sport, the Guardian can reveal that the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) has not renewed its 2021 policy on transgender players and operates without a policy on the subject.

The NWSL has established a policy in 2021, declaring: “The athletes who pass from male to women are eligible to compete” if they declare that their gender identity is a woman – subject to testosterone levels “within the typical limits of female athletes”. The 2021 policy also said that the athletes designated by a woman at birth in transition to a man and a testosterone hormone therapy were not eligible to participate in the NWSL.

There is currently no known transgender athlete playing in the NWSL, although there has been in the past. Canadian International Quinn, who won a gold medal at the 2020 Olympic Games, played for Washington Spirit and Seattle Reign until 2024, and had publicly criticized the League policy. Japan international Kumi Yokoyama was released as a transgender man in 2021 and then played for Washington Spirit and Gotham FC.

It has been widely understood that the 2021 policy has remained in progress, but a spokesperson for the NWSL told the Guardian: “The policy of 2021 is not in force and has not been since the commissioner [Jessica] Berman was hired in March 2022. The NWSL has no policy in this regard. »»

The NWSL did not answer questions about the reasons why the policy was not renewed and if there were plans for the NWSL to create a new policy in the future.

The Football Association of England and the Scottish Football Association prohibited transgender women from playing in women’s football earlier this year following a decision of the British Supreme Court in April which ruled that the legal definition of the “woman” refers to “biological sex”.

The Federation of the United States of Football (USSF), a senior co-host of the 2026 World Cup, has no policy on transgender players for national teams. A source from the USSF, speaking anonymously to provide a context to the lack of policy, explained: “There are no elite transgender players in our players’ pool and what happened with England and Scotland has nothing to do with us. If there was a player who fell into this area, we must make a decision, but we [would be] Damné if we do it and damn if we don’t do it. »»

Asked about the policy for non-elite players, a spokesperson for the director body underlined the federation’s political manual who indicates that amateur players “can register with the gender team with which the player identifies [and] shows that the declared sex is sincerely held and part of the main identity of a person. The documentation satisfying the standard indicated here includes … the documentation or the documentation issued by the government prepared by a health care provider, a qualified advisor or other professional not linked to the player. »»

The general lack of directives of the main American American football authorities intervenes in a broader cultural environment in which the rights of transgender people have been examined, if not a pure and simple attack. In June, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the prohibition of Tennessee on the treatment affirmed by the sexes had not discriminated against the sex base, the court planned to hear a case concerning the participation of transgender athletes in student sports.

“Currently, it is incredibly terrifying to be a transgender person in the United States,” a defender of transgender sports in the past, asking for anonymity for fear of personal security.

Several organizations favorable to LGBTQ problems maintain a low profile on the issue of transgender participation in sports and official policy. The human rights campaign has returned Guardian’s questions to transgender athletes to Athlete Ally, an organization created to support LGBTQ athletes publicly and evident. The Ally athlete did not respond to several requests for comments.

The lack of policy and public support for transgender athletes has created an open objective for lobbies groups seeking to establish laws and policies prohibiting transgender women from participating in female sports.

“The tide changes here in the United States,” said Beth Parlato, legal advisor to the independent women forum. “Everyone looks at this.”

The independent women’s forum is a politically conservative multi-event group that has played a leading role in the ban on transgender women in women’s sport. The swimmer Riley Gaines, who was part of a collective appeal against the NCAA, is an ambassador of the organization. The IWF recommends and supports prosecution to require prohibitions for transgender women in women’s sport and advised guiding bodies for the drafting of transgender policy.

“If we hear that there are men who try to participate in the female football league, we would start as we did with the women’s golf course,” Parlato told the Guardian. “We asked players to come forward and to express that they needed help. We contacted the government [body] With all our information and data. We had a petition for the female golf course where we were able to obtain thousands of names, then the policy changed. We did what we can to change the change with the director organ and we were able to do. We would do the same for women’s football. »»

Parlato’s organization is strongly organized and uses a detailed strategy for various campaigns. The emphasis on university and school sports which receive government funding has been a success, but the IWF now sends an influence in the wider sports industry.

Parlato has described a game book deployed for the previous campaigns: “The athletes will come to us in a group and we will contact the director organ directly. We. [create] Many of the media surrounding them, leave everywhere in the national media, digital media, social media, national media, publishers, articles, petition readers, letters to the board of directors and we [create] An action center where we lead all this plea. After so many months [of pressure] They change their policy. We would do it again [for soccer]. “”

Parlato said IWF, if he was invited, would work with football organizations to create a policy: “We would be happy to give this [advice] But they did not approach us. The tide changes here in the United States. Out of 50 states, 28 have used our model legislation [or] They adopted their own laws and codified it in law that men cannot participate in female sports. We are very excited by that.

“The other 22 states are deep, deep, [Democratic] States like California, New York and Maine, Illinois, Michigan and New Mexico, “she added.” States of deep blue where it is more difficult [to get laws passed]. We try to adopt federal laws. It was difficult [but] We will continue to work. »»

For the transgender community, the speed of closing female sport and the lack of public support depict a different image of the legal and political success of the IWF.

“It’s not red, white and blue here for millions of people,” said the Transgender defender asking for anonymity for security reasons. “There are a lot of [transgender people] in the country but not many people heard. It is an easy to scapegoat population. We are considered as a disposable and as a small fraction of the population. »»