Sport England: Equality Act 2010

Baroness Burt of Solihull Excerpts

Monday 19th May 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

We are keen, as I know the noble Baroness is, to make sure that all people, including trans people, can take part in sport. As I have said previously, it is for sports bodies themselves to determine the specific policies, but this will be done in line with guidance that is coming out in due course, on top of the interim guidance from the EHRC, which will be launching a six-week consultation tomorrow. I hope that this will resolve some of the issues that have been raised in relation to the interim guidance. We have ongoing discussions with every relevant body, to ensure that the law is applied in a humane, just and fair way.

[Baroness Burt of Solihull (LD)]

His Majesty’s Government have spoken about the clarity that the Supreme Court judgment has brought to these discussions. However, I am slightly confused about the snapshot provided by the EHRC, which we have just been discussing, and the impact that it has on grass-roots sport. Does the Minister understand the instruction that, if 26 men come together to play football, a trans man cannot play, but if 24 men come together, a trans man can play? If she does understand it, would she explain it to me, please?

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

This is exactly the type of question that leads me to say that everyone with a view on this matter should please take part in the consultation which the EHRC is launching tomorrow. There is no intention for trans men or trans women to be excluded from sport. It will be for sports bodies themselves to consider how this can best be achieved, once the guidance has come out. Clearly, it is important that single-sex spaces are provided, but that we allow for respectful debate to resolve the issues that the noble Baroness has rightly raised.