Angry parents tired of one trans womans dominance of a women's football league is campaigning for the competition to ban transgender people from women's football teams.
The transgender woman, who Daily Mail Australia has chosen not to identify, has led Football NSW‘s League One Ladies 1st Grade Goal Kicking, with seven goals.
But it's the allegations that trans athletes injured opposing women in a game last weekend that have irked some fed-up parents and players.
Angry parents fed up with a trans woman's dominance of a women's football league are campaigning for the competition to ban trans people from women's football teams
The trans woman is an active member of her community and came to Australia from the US
Daily Mail Australia has learned that Football NSW, which governs the sport, is refusing to address concerns about the inclusion of trans women in women's sides.
Binary Australia spokeswoman Kirralie Smith said she had spent months trying to speak to officials at the sports body about its policy on the subject.
It is understood at least five trans women are actively involved in the league across New South Wales.
Ms Smith claimed on Friday that her supporters sent 12,000 emails to Football NSW, and “nobody has had a reasonable response despite all the emails, warnings about injuries and how unfair it is.”
‘Football NSW has failed to answer the simple questions, ‘What is a woman?' and ‘Why have a women's division if men can play in it?'.
“They have failed to guarantee justice and safety for girls and women.”
A Facebook page dedicated to discussing the NPL league blew up over the issue this week and has since received more than 260 comments.
Most of them take direct aim at Football NSW.
The trans woman is a top scorer in the competition
One person posted photos of the American trans woman on the field next to a much smaller female competitor.
“Totally unfair to all the women in the competition,” the woman wrote.
“So many players have been seriously injured because of this ridiculous situation”.
A man who claimed to have coached men's and boys' football teams for 20 years said the league needed to “take a hard look at itself”.
“After what happened this weekend at a couple of games, family and friends are looking at pulling their kids out of their teams,” he wrote.
“This needs to be addressed by the powers that be before someone else gets hurt or players refuse to take the field or players leave the game.”
Daily Mail Australia contacted both Football Australia and Football NSW for comment.
Both clubs involved in last weekend's controversial match were also contacted, as was the trans player at the center of the controversy. No one was willing to comment on the issue.
“Football NSW is the administrator of their respective leagues and competitions, you need to contact them,” a Football Australia spokeswoman said.
Parents and players are concerned that the trans woman has a greater advantage
Ms Smith claimed that images of trans women had recently been removed from official websites promoting the pageant.
‘Why? Why are transgender people's feelings protected while women and their parents who raise concerns are ignored?' She said.
Ms Smith said women and girls deserved single-sex divisions based on the gender they were born as, adding: “Transgender players do not need to be excluded.
She noted that “men retain an unfair, and sometimes precarious, advantage because of the physical advantages of male development, including bone density and structure, heart and lung capacity, blood volume, fast-twitch muscle fibers, height, reach, strength, speed, and endurance.”
Last year, world soccer's governing body FIFA and World Athletics said they were reviewing their transgender eligibility rules after swimming adopted new rules restricting transgender participation in women's events.
However, reports from earlier this year suggested transgender footballers would compete at the FIFA Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in July and August.
FIFA women's program director Sarai Bareman told The Australian in January that three trans people had contacted her about the review and she believed there were others.
– I think it is very sensitive and we have to be very careful with how we handle it. It's something we take very, very seriously.
“And we certainly don't want to rush it (the decision on new rules), given the impact that it will have for many generations to come,” she said.
Ms Bareman said FIFA had consulted various groups including human rights groups, non-governmental organisations, athletes and other sports as well as the International Olympic Committee.
“We have to be very careful as you know, we have 211 member associations and what we are doing seems to be a plan for those member associations, which is why the consultation process is very extensive and we will take our time to make sure we get that. right, she said.
The Australian Human Rights Commission shared guidelines on the inclusion of transgender people in sport in 2019, noting that “transgender and gender diverse people are sometimes excluded from sport, or may experience discrimination and sexual harassment when participating.
“While some reported positive experiences of inclusion, others described how they had been excluded from the sports they loved because of their gender or gender identity.
“Some spoke of not engaging in the sport during their transition journey because of their concerns about how their teammates would treat them.”
The Australian Professional Association for Trans Health did not respond to Daily Mail Australia's request.
