Protest scheduled for England v Ireland after female footballer banned for trans remarks
Hundreds of women will take to Wembley Stadium on Sunday, to protest the ban against a teenage footballer after she asked a transgender opponent: “Are you a man?”
The planned protest is being organised by a group called Twelve O Five and will take place before England play Ireland. They hope to change the policy allowing those born male to play in women’s football.
Jean Hatchet, one of the leaders of the organisation spoke to TalkSport earlier today.
She said: “This really is no debate, this is a man in women’s sport… the statement we will make is very clear with the FA, they have to firm up their policy.
“We won’t stop at turning up at the game, we are going to put significant pressure on the FA to make sure they reverse the policy. We will stand up for those women that don’t feel like they can.”
The hearing on the incident, which took place last month, lasted for three hours, being described as “farcical” by one observer.
The young woman was questioned for approximately 30 minutes where she became visibly emotional.
She explained in the hearing: “The moment the player clarified they were transgender, I respected their answer fully, dropped the situation and immediately shifted my focus back to the game.”
She added: “I have always supported and respected the diversity within my team, including members who are in the LGBTQIA+ community.”
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TwelveOFive recently protested against a recent law change criminalising the misgendering of transgender people, outside the German Embassy in London.
The group have former tennis star, Martina Navratilova, supporting the protest.
Navratilova recently said on X: “Do you think males who identify otherwise should be able to play football on women’s teams?” when responding to Gary Lineker asking for questions on his podcast.
The FA has been approached to comment.