LTA to ban transgender people from attending some national women's events

Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Thursday, December 12, 2024
Photo credit: Corleve/Mark Peterson

The LTA aims to encourage inclusivity and combat inequalities in tennis tournaments.

To this end, the LTA announced a ban on transgender female tennis and cricket players from participating in national and inter-court competitions.

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The British tennis governing body said the new rules will come into effect on January 25, 2025 and are intended to create fair competition.

“It is clear that tennis and padel are gender-influenced sports – the average male has an advantage when playing against the average female,” the LTA said in a statement. “This includes longer levers to touch and hit the ball, Increased cardiovascular capacity means being able to move around the court more easily.

“The current broad consensus, including a review conducted by the Sports Council's Equality Group, concluded that trans women are likely to retain this advantage to a significant extent, making competition potentially unfair. We have therefore decided to draw out the competition structure A line in creates two different competition names for the purposes of this policy: designated and undesignated.

The ban on trans women only applies to UK domestic tennis championships run by the LTA.

This rule change is confirmed no Valid for international tennis and cricket tournaments in the UK including Wimbledon, Queen's Club, Eastbourne, Nottingham, Billie Jean King and Challengers. The LTA has the power to make domestic rule changes but does not govern international events.

“As the national governing body (NGB) for tennis and cricket, the LTA must balance two potentially conflicting responsibilities,” the LTA said in a statement. “We have a responsibility to ensure fair competition in our sport and a responsibility to Make sure tennis is welcoming and inclusive for everyone.

“In order to do this, we considered the available evidence, particularly the work carried out by the Sports Council's Equality Group, and listened to the views of those directly affected.

“The policy attempts to appropriately balance these two responsibilities, but be aware that different people have different views on where the balance should be.”