Piers Morgan thinks trans women playing rugby is ‘obviously wrong, unfair and dangerous’ to cis women
Piers Morgan (ITV)
Piers Morgan has weighed in on World Rugby’s new policy banning trans women from playing the sport at an elite level.
The Good Morning Britain host – who’s previously insisted he “supports those who transition” after being accused of “dehumanising” trans lives – claimed on Twitter that trans women playing rugby is “obviously wrong”.
“How can there even be a debate about transgender women playing women’s rugby? It’s so obviously wrong, unfair, unequal and dangerous to women born to smaller, less powerful female biological bodies,” Morgan wrote Friday (October 16).
“We all know this,” he said, completely ignoring the LGBT+ sporting organisations that have questioned World Rugby’s reasoning for the ban.
“Women will get seriously hurt if this insanity prevails.”
Piers Morgan sides with World Rugby after nobody asked.
Morgan launched his broadside against trans women playing rugby six days after World Rugby, the world governing body for the sport, announced that it was officially banning trans women from the sport after months of “debate”.
In England, the ban will not be enacted by Rugby Football Union (RFU), which announced on Wednesday (October 14) it “believes further scientific evidence is required alongside detailed consideration of less restrictive measures in relation to the eligibility of transgender players”.
How can there even be a debate about transgender women playing women’s rugby? It’s so obviously wrong, unfair, unequal & dangerous to women born to smaller, less powerful female biological bodies.
We all know this.
Women will get seriously hurt if this insanity prevails. https://t.co/ppoCbCSuHV
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) October 16, 2020
World Rugby has been criticised by Athlete Ally, Stonewall and trans rugby player Grace McKenzie over the ban.
In a policy document, World Rugby organisation claimed that allowing trans women to play rugby would pose a safety risk to cisgender women.
Meanwhile, trans men will be allowed to play on teams with cisgender men, but they will be forced to confirm that they understand there is a greater risk of injury by doing so.
World Rugby said its policy will not preclude national unions such as the RFU from “flexibility” in approaches at a grassroots level, but trans women will be strictly forbidden from playing at an elite or international level.
The new policy was heavily criticised by LGBT+ sporting organisation Athlete Ally, as well as civil rights body Stonewall.
Athlete Ally executive director Hudson Taylor said the ban was introduced after experts “cherry-picked data from a body of evidence that has been widely contested”.
“Their decision to bar trans women from competing shows a lack of understanding about the complexities of performance, a lack of compassion for the rights and experiences of trans athletes, and perpetuates sexist ideas about female athleticism and potential for excellence,” Hudson said.
Meanwhile, trans rugby player Grace McKenzie branded the new policy “transphobic” and said it was “rooted in poor science”.
“This decision form World Rugby immediately calls into question their guiding principles of diversity and inclusion, and puts them behind all other international governing sport bodies in creating welcoming environment for their athletes,” McKenzie said.
