Cambridge University has implemented a significant policy change, formally banning transgender rowers from participating in women's boat races. This decision follows a closely contested vote among college boat club captains and aligns the university with the national governing body's regulations.
The Vote That Changed Cambridge Rowing
In a ballot organised by the Cambridge University Combined Boat Club (CUCBC) on October 25, club captains voted to adopt British Rowing's gender guidelines. The results revealed a divided community, with 27 captains voting in favour of alignment, 23 voting against, and two choosing to abstain.
This new policy mandates that individuals signing up for the women's category must have been born female. Transgender women are now permitted to compete in a newly created 'open' division, where any rowers can participate.
Captains had been informed prior to the vote that should the majority reject alignment with British Rowing's rulebook, the CUCBC would likely cancel all college races. The university had also issued warnings in its September sport guidelines that clubs not abiding by applicable law faced potential 'legal action' and 'deregistration'.
Immediate Backlash and Disruption
The policy change prompted swift action from trans rights activists. On October 28, the group Trans Liberation Cambridge disrupted the University IVs Regatta races on the River Cam.
Protesters employed a dinghy to block rowers' routes, effectively interrupting the competition. The group condemned the university's decision in a social media post, accusing the institution of 'shameful intimidation of undergraduate student committees' and strong-arming students into excluding their trans peers.
Nicholas Budenberg, the men's captain of Darwin College boat club, who voted against the alignment, branded the changes 'morally unacceptable'.
Historical Context and Legal Pressure
This policy reversal marks a departure from Cambridge's previous approach, where students could compete in men's or women's rowing competitions based on the gender they identified with.
The change came after warnings of legal action concerning the university's previous misalignment with British Rowing's official rulebook.
In a related historical revelation, it emerged in 2023 that a member of the 2015 Cambridge University women's reserve crew was biologically male. Trans woman Sarah Gibson had taken a position on the team in the same landmark year when women were finally given equal billing to men and the opportunity to race on the same stretch of the Thames.
Organisers at the time were aware of Gibson's background and made the decision not to display the schools team members had attended, as Gibson's had been a school for boys.
Every college boat club remains a member of CUCBC, which operates separately from the Cambridge University Boat Club (CUBC) that represents those who compete for the university itself.
