Permitting trans to compete in female sports ‘compromises fairness in competitions and in some cases safety as well,’ says spokesman for New Zealand First party.
New Zealand will stop funding sporting organizations that permit transgender women (i.e., biological men) to compete against biological women, a government spokesman declared on December 20. At least one “woke” sports body has already pledged to resist the policy.
Permitting trans women to compete in female sports “compromises fairness in competitions and in some cases safety as well,” Andy Foster, a spokesman for the New Zealand First party told reporters.
Foster elaborated that a new policy agreement between his group and its coalition partner, the National Party, would “ensure publicly funded sporting bodies support fair competition that is not compromised by rules relating to gender.”
Although various international sporting bodies have already banned biological males from competing against females, youth and amateur competitions will have to abide by the New Zealand government’s regulations.
“With rugby, athletics, boxing, you can see why power, weight and speed become a real issue,” he explained. “If there’s a teenage girl against a former teenage boy, your child is going to get hurt.”
Foster said that the new rules will be introduced some time before the government’s sport and recreation agency distributes NZ$9.3 million ($5.82 million) in funding next year. Groups that refuse to ban biological men from female competitions will not be able to obtain any of the funding, he said.
“If [an organization] says, ‘We don’t want to do that’, that’s their choice but they shouldn’t then expect the taxpayer to say ‘we’re delighted to support you doing something which we see as unsafe and unfair,’” he added.
Studies have revealed that trans women retain an athletic advantage over biological women even after two years of taking female hormones. Until recently, international sporting organizations have typically required “transgender” women to prove that their testosterone levels fall within the normal range for adult women before being allowed to compete, but many — including World Athletics and the International Cycling Union — have since enforced blanket bans.
