Transgender women have been banned from all competitive female matches by the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA).
The governing body’s decision applies to both tennis and padel, and follows updated guidance published this week by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).
The EHRC’s revised policy, which replaces its previous 2011 position, draws on last year’s Supreme Court ruling affirming that the “concept of sex is binary”.
Having reviewed the new framework, the LTA has concluded it must now apply its transgender participation ban to all competitive matchplay, closing a gap that had previously allowed individual clubs to set their own rules for internal ladders, leagues and knockout events.
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Until late 2024, the LTA had already positioned itself as one of the more stringent governing bodies on this issue, introducing rules that covered county and national tournaments as well as inter-club fixtures.
However, it stopped short of dictating policy for competitions organised within individual clubs, leaving those decisions to local discretion.
That approach has now changed with the EHRC’s refreshed guidance, which was shaped by the Supreme Court’s landmark judgment on the binary nature of sex.
In light of this shift, the LTA determined it could no longer permit any exceptions, concluding that its restrictions on transgender participation must encompass competitive matchplay at every level without exception.
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Baroness Sharron Davies, the former Olympic swimming medallist who has spearheaded opposition to transgender athletes competing in women’s sport, praised the move.
She wrote on social media: “Good. Sports are now doing what they should have always done.
“Protect their female players & athletes from unfair sport. That’s a busy responsibility.”
Several professionals in the world of tennis have also voiced their concerns.
American star Coco Gauff joined Aryna Sabalenka in backing measures designed to protect fairness in women’s tennis after the WTA introduced controversial new genetic testing rules.
The 22-year-old described the subject as “a conversation that is very nuanced” when questioned following her match at the National Bank Open.
“I, I guess, kind of agree with trying to protect the fairness in women’s sports, but also do not like the attack that it is creating – people who don’t really care, but just want to use this as a reason to attack the trans community,” Gauff said.
“So I’m not really a big fan of that either.”
Sabalenka offered more unequivocal support for measures protecting the female category.
She said: “It’s very important to maintain fairness in our circuit.
“It’s obvious that, biologically, men are much stronger than women, so it wouldn’t seem fair to me for a woman to compete against a biological man.
“I think it took them a while to make this decision and, yes, I support it.”
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