To the Board and leadership of England Touch,

We, the undersigned clubs, organisations and members of the Touch community, are writing to express our serious concern about England Touch’s new Participation Eligibility Policy and the process through which it has been developed and introduced.

The policy represents a significant change to who can access competitive Touch in England, restricting opportunities for trans, non-binary and intersex participants.

We recognise the Supreme Court’s judgment on the meaning of sex under the Equality Act and the subsequent EHRC Code of Practice, and that England Touch has a responsibility to consider their implications for Touch. But policy changes of this significance must be transparent, evidence-based and informed by meaningful engagement with the people and communities affected. We do not believe that has happened.

The UK Sports Councils, including Sport England, are themselves reviewing their guidance on transgender inclusion in domestic sport in response to the updated EHRC Code, with revised guidance yet to be published.

England Touch previously indicated that it would convene a panel to capture the voices of those affected, gather evidence and assess risk, fairness and inclusion. That panel was never established.

We are not aware of any meaningful consultation with trans, non-binary or intersex participants, the wider Touch community or organisations with relevant LGBTQ+ expertise before the policy was introduced.

No Touch-specific evidence or Equality Impact Assessment has been published. There has been no public explanation of what alternative approaches were considered or how the unique characteristics of Touch, including its established mixed format, informed the decision.

The policy was instead introduced with immediate effect, with no structured consultation process and only a general invitation to email England Touch with questions or feedback after implementation.

We believe England Touch must reconsider both the policy and the process through which it was reached.

We call on England Touch to:

1 Withdraw the policy and reinstate the previous policy on an interim basis while the following steps take place.

2 Commission an independent review into how the policy was developed and introduced, including its governance and decision-making, and publish its findings and recommended actions. This should include the impact of key roles remaining vacant throughout the process, including Head of Governance and EDI leadership, and how this capacity will be restored.

3 Consult the Touch community through a formal, transparent and time-bound process, meaningfully involving those directly affected, the wider Touch community, Pride In Touch, IGR and relevant independent organisations. This includes providing clear and specific guidance with little to no ambiguity for example, eligibility for trans men taking testosterone.

4 Develop a Touch specific replacement policy informed by that consultation and supported by clear reasoning and evidence. Publish the basis for the policy, including consideration of fairness and safety, alternative participation arrangements and the relevant legal framework, with clear guidance on participation, privacy, safeguarding and eligibility.

Rebuilding trust

We recognise the Supreme Court’s judgment on the meaning of sex under the Equality Act and the subsequent EHRC guidance. However, there was no new legal requirement compelling England Touch to introduce this particular policy in this way, without meaningful consultation, transparency or published Touch-specific evidence.

The way this policy has been introduced has damaged trust within parts of our community. The response to our initial statement reflects the strength of that concern, reaching more than 66,000 views, 800 likes and 50 supportive comments on Instagram at the time of writing.

England Touch now has an opportunity to rebuild that trust by strengthening its relationship with trans, non-binary and intersex players, referees, coaches and volunteers, listening to the people it governs across the entire touch community and demonstrating that significant decisions about participation will be made with the community, not simply presented to it.

We ask England Touch to respond publicly to this letter and set out how it intends to address these concerns.

The people and organisations signing this letter may hold different perspectives on questions of sex, gender and competitive sport. What unites us is the belief that significant decisions about who can participate in Touch should be made transparently, responsibly and with meaningful involvement from the communities they affect.

We want Touch to remain a sport in which everyone can feel they belong.

Signed,

Pride In Touch and IGR

Alongside the undersigned Touch clubs, organisations, players, coaches, referees, volunteers and supporters.