On 16th April, the UK Supreme Court ruled that the legal definition of a woman excludes transgender women. The ruling rocked the trans community and allies for all the wrong reasons. It affirmed that the political landscape of the UK isn’t far off the cruel anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation implemented by the Trump-Vance administration in the US.
Concerningly, Harry Potter author JK Rowling confirmed that she was one of the benefactors who supported the gender critical group For Women Scotland, which brought the case forward – the fallout of which will impact the most historically marginalised people in our society.
In response to the ruling, multiple sporting bodies in the UK, including the FA and Scottish FA, have made a disappointing (but unsurprising) overhaul of their policies to remove trans women from their women’s categories. “This is a complex subject,” the FA wrote in its 1 May statement, “and our position has always been that if there was a material change in law, science, or the operation of the policy in grassroots football, then we would review it and change it if necessary.
“The Supreme Court’s ruling on 16 April means that we will be changing our policy. Transgender women will no longer be able to play in women’s football in England, and this policy will be implemented from 1 June 2025.”
The FA ban, beginning, unironically, on the first day of Pride month, has prompted a public outcry from the trans football community and allies alike, particularly, over the organisation’s choice to restrict the women’s game, which has had a turbulent past in the UK, given the 1921 FA ban against women and the 50-year fight for equality.
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For context, there are around 20 transgender women who play out of approximately 2.5 million registered players. Note: There is no ban against trans men in the men’s game.
Trans footballer and campaign lead for Football v Transphobia, Natalie Washington (who uses she/they pronouns), has been playing for Rushmoor Community FC in Farnborough, Hampshire, for the last 10 years in her affirmed gender. “I’m of an age that I’m thinking about stopping playing football at some point in the not-too-distant future anyway,” she tells Glamour UK. But her decision to retire from the game has already been made for her.
When Natalie came out as trans and began transitioning in 2013, she assumed her football journey would be over. “I tried men’s football to experiment a bit with gender presentation, but I didn’t feel particularly safe or comfortable doing that,” she says. “So I stopped, and at that time I thought, ‘That’s probably it, I won’t be playing football anymore.’”
They were aware of the FA’s then-policies for trans women to get involved in women’s football, but she “Wasn’t sure how easy that would be or whether it would make me a target”.
To celebrate Transgender Day of Visibility, GLAMOUR got two iconic women together to chat sisterhood, solidarity, and trans joy.
And Natalie was not alone in her fears, as per research conducted by Stonewall in 2024, a quarter of LGBTQIA+ people did not feel welcome in community sports groups or community team sports.
After watching the 2015 World Cup in Canada, Natalie decided it was time to pull her football boots on once again. She reached out to her local women’s team and was open about her gender identity. “I got a positive response from them, and I’ve been there ever since.”
As per FA rules at the time, permission to play was given on a case-by-case basis and required trans women to undergo hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for “an appropriate length of time to minimise any potential advantage”. Natalie had to wait for 18 months before she could start participating in Rushmoor Community FC matches.
“That early transition time is very stressful, very difficult. I had a long-term relationship end as a result, worrying about housing and money with only one income; that was a real challenge,” they explain.
“Football played a really important role for me in being that outlet where I could just go and kick a ball about and not worry about stress,” she continues. “But also, it was a good way of meeting new people. Football clubs in England are pretty central to the community, aren’t they?”
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Football also found its way back into Paula Griffin’s life unexpectedly. The trans goalkeeper, who plays for Clapton Community FC, Peckham Town FC, and the trans-inclusive club Goal Diggers FC, re-joined the game after recovering from bladder cancer.
“Until I joined Goal Diggers, I hadn’t played for about 15 years,” Paula tells me. “Because of my health and gender identity, I stopped playing. Then after the pandemic, after my cancer, after my transition, I didn’t think I’d ever play football again.”
For Paula, the community aspect of football was what kept her going throughout her transition and cancer recovery, from which she’s now cancer-free. “I’ve achieved so much in my gender journey thanks to the people at Goal Diggers, but also within women’s and non-binary football. I’ve made so many friends and allies over the last few years. It’s genuinely humbling.”
Last month, Paula received a letter from the FA stating she has a permanent exemption to play on women’s teams after undergoing her gender affirming surgery, as she will no longer produce testosterone.
But the latest communication she received from the organisation about the ban is a far cry, to say the least. “Now, to actually have that turned on its head because of the knee-jerk reaction by the FA is heartbreaking.”
“Non-binary is not just one identity, but a category that encompasses many different ways of experiencing and expressing gender.”
In the days that followed, Paula found herself walking 12 miles from her training ground in Haggerston, Hackney, to the FA headquarters in Wembley among her teammates, members of the LGBTQIA+ community and allies to deliver an open letter urging the organisation to rethink its decision.
“It was a very powerful feeling,” she says. “I realised how strong our community is. These are the players that play the game at grassroots, these are the players I play alongside on a regular basis, these are the players that are standing up for someone like me.”
In his response to the open letter, the chief executive of the FA, Mark Bullingham, said its policy is “not an ideological judgement, but a difficult decision”. He added, as per The Guardian, that the FA is “committed to working with every registered transgender player in our network to support them in staying involved in football, and we will continue to have those conversations”.
The FA's response can be read in full here.
Also standing on the front lines of the fight for trans rights is Fae Fulconis, a trans footballer at Hackney Women’s Football Club. Fae was born in France, but despite having “The luck of being from a country that is much better with regards to trans women,” crossing the English Channel to continue playing her sport is not an option.
“I want to fight this in the UK,” says Fae. “I want to help my British sisters because I think that they are suffering right now. It’s where the action is happening, and it’s not a battle that I want to lose.”
Between recovering from a torn ACL and meniscus, and the impending ban, Sunday was Fae’s last game with her teammates. “I’ve barely played in a year and a half, and my coach gave me 75 minutes to play for my last game,” she recalls. “It was emotional, I must say.”
Fae can continue to train with her teammates or join a non-FA affiliated Saturday Football League. But it won’t be the same Tier-six women’s league that has been a part of her life for the past three years. “It’s a different level of competitiveness, and it’s not what I’m looking for in terms of football level, but it’s a good, inclusive way of playing,” she said.
Other options which have been bandied about include the FA suggesting that the trans women affected become referees or coaches instead, and take up the option of six FA-funded therapy sessions to process the news. It’s a suggestion Fae says is “tone deaf”.
“We’re all here to play. We’re in the prime of our football careers, and most trans women are in therapy already. Our life is hard as it is. I don’t think six therapy sessions change anything.”
Jasmine Angrove, Scotland’s only out trans footballer to be affected by the policy, believes that the restrictions are part of a wider orchestrated attack on women. “I think trans people undermine the essence of the patriarchy, which is why they’re so threatening to the far-right.
“This is why the far-right always go for trans people first, and then in hand with that, they try and narrowly define what women are, which is caging women, it’s oppressing women, and it’s controlling women,” says Jasmine, the founder, president and coach of the country’s first trans-inclusive football club, Gender Goals. “Trans issues are women’s issues.”
As Natalie reminds us, the growth of grassroots women’s football has been an arduous one. “I hope that for the sake of women’s and girls’ football around the country, that growth continues and people continue to enjoy their football,” she says.
Natalie, like many other trans footballers, clings to the hope that those in the community might one day be able to find their way back onto the pitch, or create their own path.
“I think a lot of people might come to the conclusion that we can run a football league, we just need to get teams and facilities and organisers, and we don’t need to comply with a policy because we don’t need the FA,” Natalie suggests.
Goal Diggers FC is selling ‘Let The Dolls Play’ t-shirts to raise money for the Good Law Project, which is raising money for legal fees to challenge the Supreme Court’s judgment.
