Hundreds marched on Wembley on Sunday for a teenage girl banned from football for asking a “bearded” transgender opponent “Are you a man?” as a second protest is planned. The Telegraph has more.
A second protest over the banning of a teenage girl for asking a “bearded” transgender opponent “Are you a man?” has been planned for England Women’s friendly against Switzerland.
It follows a demonstration before the men’s Nations League game against the Republic of Ireland on Sunday, with more than 200 women and men estimated to have descended on Wembley amid growing outrage over the six-match suspension imposed on a 17-year-old with suspected autism, who wept upon being grilled about her comments.
A group calling itself Twelve O Five, which organised Sunday’s protest, is planning a second demonstration at the Lionesses’ friendly at Bramall Lane next month.
The Wembley action, staged halfway down Olympic Way, was also protesting against the Football Association’s policy of allowing those born male to play in women’s football.
It featured a number of chants, including, “Stand up for girl’s football”, and, “Boys and girls are not the same. We don’t want men in our game. On the pitch or on the court, keep men out of women’s sport”. …
The protest was welcomed by the mother of the girl, who was banned last month by the FA’s national serious case panel and missed the first match of her suspension on Sunday. …
The girl whose plight triggered Sunday’s protest will miss two matches for her club, with the remaining four games of her ban suspended for a year. …
She was found guilty at a hearing last month on the basis of her own evidence to the panel, which had included that she had sought guidance from the referee over the eligibility of a trans opponent and had expressed concerns for her own safety.
That is despite her denying that doing so constituted transphobia and the referee also having not noticed anything he deemed to be discriminatory.
Worth reading in full.
Stop Press: The Free Speech Union is helping the 17 year-old girl at the heart of this story to appeal her six-match ban and has found a top barrister to represent her. The Telegraph has more.
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