Women anglers hail Mail on Sunday following decision to ban male-born trans competitors from female competitions
- Trans athlete Becky Lee Birtwhistle Hodges was permitted to join England squad
Transgender athletes have been banned from joining women’s fishing teams after an outcry in The Mail on Sunday.
The sport’s international governing body has ruled that male-born competitors cannot participate in female competitions because their physical strength gives them an unfair advantage.
The decision came after this newspaper revealed the England ladies’ shore angling team had forfeited the chance to defend their gold medal at next month’s World Championships by pulling out in protest because Becky Lee Birtwhistle Hodges, who was born male, had been permitted to join the squad.
Ms Hodges, a former rugby player, can cast her line at least twice as far as many women.
The team’s captain, Heather Lindfield, said: ‘Allowing males to come into it was a real slap in the face.
England’s ladies shore angling team pulled out of the World Championships after trans-athlete Becky Lee Birtwhistle Hodges (pictured) was allowed to apply for the squad
Former rugby player Ms Hodges is able to cast her fishing line at least twice as far as a woman
‘Thanks to The Mail on Sunday for publicising this issue.’
The England squad also refused to compete in the Home Nations competition because former rugby player Ms Birtwhistle Hodges – who can cast her line at least twice as far as many women – had been selected.
When England won bronze at the 2018 World Championships with Ms Birtwhistle Hodges, who had sex-reassignment surgery in 2019, none of the other countries applauded them at the medal ceremony.
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