Oxford students have added the stripes of the trans pride flag to their rowing club website after being forced to ban biological males from entering women's races. Students are up in arms over the new Rules of Racing policy and are said to be 'personally investigating the matter'.
This follows warnings of legal action against UK universities failing to align with the British Rowing rulebook, which states 'only people who are assigned female at birth will be eligible to compete in the Women's category'. The rules, introduced in August 2023, add that 'trans, non-binary and all other individuals will be eligible to compete in the Open category'.
Boat club captains at Oxford have now condemned the University for forcing them to abide by the national guidance, which applies to races entered in both inter-collegiate and university-level competitions. Failure to enforce the policy would result in Oxford University Rowing Clubs' (OURC) 'deregistration as a University sports club and inability to run competitions, effective immediately'.
In a statement on Instagram, Wadham College Boat Club described the changes as 'disproportionate, discriminatory, and impossible to enforce' and added it will continue 'to fight for the previous rules to be reinstated'. Somerville College Boat Club said it is 'deeply saddened by the recent rule change... which threatens our long-standing values of inclusivity and friendship'.
Previously, OURCs' Rules of Racing stated 'trans people should be permitted to participate in their affirmed gender identity' at 'less competitive levels', including college-level rowing. The President of the Oxford University LGBTQ+ Society said on Instagram: 'I am personally investigating the matter, and it is my top priority to resolve it by whatever means necessary.'
The OURCs has been forced to add the new clause to its website but has now changed the background of every webpage to the pink, white and blue stripes of the transgender flag. This follows Cambridge University banning transgender rowers from women's races in November last year. British Rowing guidelines on gender had been voted in by club captains in a ballot set up by the Cambridge University Combined Boat Club (CUCBC) the previous month. However, the new rules sparked a trans rights group to storm college races on the River Cam, interrupting the competition by blocking rowers' routes with a dinghy.
At a recent OURCs meeting for club captains, an informal vote was proposed to gauge support for the new Oxford University rules, with 49 votes cast against and only one vote cast in favour. Five people abstained. Another vote saw captains asked if they were comfortable competing in an event under the newly imposed rules. Twenty-four votes were cast against the informal motion and only eight votes in favour.
Last year, the Supreme Court's landmark judgement ruled the definition of a woman is based on biological sex. Five Supreme Court justices unanimously decided 'the terms woman and sex in the Equality Act' refer to a 'biological woman and biological sex'. Maya Forstater, chief executive of human rights charity Sex Matters which intervened in the case, said at the time she was 'delighted' by the outcome. She added: 'We are delighted that the Supreme Court has accepted the arguments of For Women Scotland and rejected the position of the Scottish Government. The court has given us the right answer: the protected characteristic of sex - male and female - refers to reality, not to paperwork.'
Lara Brown, Policy Exchange Senior Research Fellow for culture and identity, said: 'By confirming that "sex" in the Equality Act 2010 means "biological sex", the Supreme Court has secured women's sex-based rights – rights to which they have always been entitled as a matter of law. While this is a welcome victory, it should never have been left to the courts to answer the question of "what is a woman?".'
Oxford University said it 'remains committed to being an inclusive university'. A spokesman told the Daily Mail that for competitive sports, 'registered sports clubs and committees are required to follow the policies and eligibility criteria set by the relevant national governing body' as 'this is necessary to ensure alignment with competition frameworks as well as compliance with the law'.
