Protect female sports at Commonwealth Games, Scottish Government is urged

The Scottish Government has been called on to ensure trans women cannot compete in female categories at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

In a Scottish Parliament debate, MSPs raising fears about the safety of elite female athletes drawn against transgender competitors were accused of spreading "poison".

Discussion of Olympic gold medallist boxers Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-Ting, whose inclusion in the female category in the Paris games drew controversy after they allegedly failed sex tests, saw the SNP's Karen Adam and Maggie Chapman of the Scottish Greens hit out against "politically motivated culture wars".

In a debate on safe and fair sport for women and girls, Conservative MSP Tess White said "so-called inclusion" for transgender women is "leading to the exclusion of women from sport".

White, who practices karate, said "for every male in the female category, a female is excluded".  She said "institutional cowardice" had stifled discussion of the matter.

And as Scotland prepares to play host to a scaled-down Commonwealth Games in 2026, Ash Regan of the Alba Party called on ministers to keep female categories single-sex.

She said: "The world will be watching us and we must ensure that these opportunities remain fair and safe for our female athletes."

Regan went on: "The consequences of not addressing the risks to female sports go beyond immediate physical safety of women and girls. If their safety, their dignity and their aspirations cannot be assured, women and girls' very inclusion in sport is at risk."

Taking place during Scottish Women and Girls in Sport Week, the debate noted the concerns over the eligibility of the boxers to fight against women. 

The controversy caused headlines during the summer games and both athletes defended their right to compete. 

Chapman said Khelif had faced "unprecedented levels of abuse, vitriol [and] harassment, just for being excellent at what she does" and accused White, who lodged the debate, of spreading "toxic narratives" which are "unfounded in fact, discriminatory in effect and deeply damaging to both trans and cisgender women and girls in sport and in our communities".

She said the fighters endured a "torrent of misogynistic abuse" and disinformation that "threatens the safety of female athletes". 

She went on: "There are people watching this debate and people who will hear it reported, who are understandably afraid: transgender people, non-binary people, intersex people, women who do not conform to conventional Eurocentric or white assumptions of body shape, demeanour or dress, people who fear that they will be next to face exclusion, rejection, excoriation and hate."

Former Commonwealth and Olympic athlete Brian Whittle MSP said the boxers' bouts had been a "grotesque sight".

On the inclusion of trans women in female contests, he said: "You cannot create equality for one group and create inequality for another. 

"It's hugely important that sports inclusive are accessible to all, irrespective of personal circumstances. It is also crucial that safety and fairness are considered when we set these rules. The topic of this debate was inevitable, given that no matter how much we strive for that equality, there are certain circumstances where biology matters, where XX and XY chromosomes matter. Women's sport is governed by biology and cannot be defined in any other way. We need to have a balanced discussion, presiding officer, and we need better solutions to ensure that fairness, inclusion, and most of all, safety for women's sport."

Sports minister Maree Todd called for MSPs to be careful they "do not perpetuate misinformation around these very sensitive themes".

She said the Equality Act allows sports organisations to exclude transgender participants from participating in the sex category with which they identify "where physical strength, stamina or physique are major factors in determining success or failure, and which one sex is generally at a disadvantage in comparison with the other".