Transgender footballer says ‘no advantage’ comes from hormone therapy
Transgender football player Blair Hamilton started hormone therapy three years ago. (Stonehaven Ladies football club/Facebook)
Transgender footballer Blair Hamilton started hormone therapy three years ago and she has experienced “no advantage” as a result of her transitioning.
The footballer, who plays for the Scottish team Stonehaven Ladies FC, spoke to BBC Scotland on Monday (March 4), after high-profile cisgender—those who identify with the gender assigned at birth—sportswomen opposed the inclusion of transgender athletes in women’s sports.
Hamilton said that those who spoke out against the inclusion of transgender athletes need to “look at the science” of what transitioning does to a person’s body.
“There is absolutely no advantage on the pitch.”
— Blair Hamilton
“It does take away your muscle mass, your explosiveness. Your ratios from type-one to type-two fast-twitch fibres change – your body completely changes. I don’t think they realise how much of a change hormone therapy makes,” Hamilton, who said she knew she was transgender since she was four years old, explained.
“There is absolutely no advantage on the pitch,” the 28-year-old added.
Former British swimmer Sharron Davies MBE sparked criticism after saying she believes that transgender athletes competing in female competitions have an unfair advantage.
Davies’ position echoed that of tennis champion Martina Navratilova, who wrote a piece in The Sunday Times in February saying that having trans women competing against cisgender women would be a form of “cheating” and “unfair.”
Sharron Davies and Martina Navratilova criticised over transgender athletes remarks
Both Davies and Navratilova were criticised by LGBT+ sports group. Athlete Ally in the US cut ties with Navratilova following her comments, writing in a statement: “There is no evidence at all that the average trans woman is any bigger, stronger, or faster than the average cisgender woman, but there is evidence that often when athletes lower testosterone through hormone replacement therapy, performance goes down.”
In the UK, Pride Sports, LEAP Sports Scotland and LGBT Sport Cymru released a joint statement following Davies’ remarks, pointing out that transgender athletes have been able to openly compete in international competition since 2003.
“This is happening within a context of a moral panic generated around trans rights which often centres on themes of unfair ‘advantage’ and/or infiltration of women’s spaces,” the statement read.
Athlete Ally released a statement condemning Martina Navratilova for her ‘transphobic’ comments.
Hamilton isn’t the only transgender footballer to address the controversy.
Natalie Washington, a trans woman who plays for Rushmoor Ladies in Hampshire and who was featured on the website of the Football Association occasion of LGBT History Month, shared her personal experience in response to claims of transgender athletes having an advantage over cisgender peers.
The 35-year-old, who began playing in women’s team after she transitioned a few years ago, tweeted on Monday: “Yesterday my football team containing two trans women lost 5-1 twice to a team containing no trans women, so you can take your trans advantage and shove it.”
