Trans women find safe space in London soccer club after UK gender ruling

By Marissa Davison and Catarina Demony

LONDON (Reuters) -For the transgender players at London's Goal Diggers FC, the landmark UK court ruling that the legal definition of a woman should be based on biological sex has left the soccer team questioning who they can play against, and where.

Last month's Supreme Court statement that only biological and not trans women met the definition of a woman under equality laws has implications for workplaces, hospitals, prisons, schools, associations, and sports teams.

The country's equality watchdog will issue new guidelines shortly, but its interim guidance has stated that transgender people should be banned from using facilities, including toilets and changing rooms, of the gender they live as.

Goal Diggers was founded in 2015 with the aim of making football more accessible to all women and non-binary people, regardless of experience or ability.

It says it has already quit one league that is aligned with the English Football Association, which will ban transgender women from women's soccer from June 1, and says it will quit any other league that follows the rules.

"They can stand by the FA but we will stand by our trans members," club founder Fleur Cousens told Reuters. "We'll work towards creating more (inclusive) spaces as a result."

The FA said on May 1 it was contacting registered transgender women playing soccer to explain the changes and how they could continue to stay involved in the game, without giving details.

Transgender rights have become a highly political issue in Britain and elsewhere. Some critics say the conservative right has weaponised identity politics to attack minority groups, while others argue that liberal support for transgender people has infringed on the rights of biological women.

Different countries have taken different approaches when it comes to sport - U.S. President Donald Trump has sought to exclude transgender girls and women from female sports - and lawyers and campaigners disagree over the UK ruling.

Jane Sullivan, sports coordinator at the Women's Rights Network lobby group, welcomed the ruling. She argues that transgender women could have a physical advantage having been born male, and that single sex spaces should be observed.

She said her organisation would be watching those which did not comply with the new rules.

Seema Patel, a sports law expert at Nottingham Law School, said the FA ban had been "premature" in acting before the equalities watchdog issued its full guidance, and said there should be distinct approaches to amateur and elite sport.

Sammy Rees, a 26-year-old transgender woman who plays for the inclusive London club along with other LGBTQ+ people, said the intense focus brought on transgender people by the ruling had been difficult.

"I've been more judgmental of myself, more critical ... thinking (more) about how other people would view me in a negative light," Rees said.

"It definitely takes its toll," she said, adding that she still hoped it was all "just a bad dream".

(Editing by Alison Williams)