Transphobic flyers handed out at Women’s FA Cup Final football match
The leaflets asked fans to support calls to ban trans women from the sport
An anti-trans group has sparked outrage after distributing transphobic leaflets at the Women’s FA Cup Final this weekend.
Fans were given the leaflets at the Arsenal V Chelsea match at Wembley Stadium on Saturday (May 5) by activists from Mayday 4 Women, a feminist group campaigning against transgender rights.
The leaflets called on fans to support a ban on trans women from the sport, who the leaflet refers to as “male-bodied athletes” and claims have a physical advantage over other women.
The leaflets read: “Women have fought very hard over the past century to get their own recognition of their athletic values and have a place on their own in sports.
“Women’s athletes will lose out if we allow men to compete in our competition.”
The leaflet also read: “Girls can play football! Gender non-conforming kids need feminism not hormones or surgery!”
“Changing rooms should be sex-segregated. A man can never be a woman. Keep men out of our sports!”
The leaflet claimed that “Men recognised as Transwomen are allowed to compete with 3X higher testosterone levels than the high range woman.”
It added: “Surgery or not, testosterone levels hardly decrease in the majority of the cases, and the same goes for muscles and bone structure.”
Today we went to the Women’s FA Cup Final and gave out 400+ flyers before the match about protecting women’s sport from men. pic.twitter.com/rbXpsDFax6
— MAYDAY 4 WOMEN (@mayday4women) May 5, 2018
The transphobic group shared pictures of the leaflet as well as the Arsenal V Chelsea match on Twitter alongside the caption: “Today we went to the Women’s FA Cup Final and gave out 400+ flyers before the match about protecting women’s sport from men.”
The leaflets have since been condemned by LGBT groups.
The news comes after FA announced they would allow transgender people to play as their affirmed gender in 2014, sparking outrage in groups such as Mayday 4 Women.