Transgender Athlete guidance

LUCA is committed to ensuring that there is open access to all those who wish to participate in our events, and that they are treated fairly. Under current UK legislation, athletics, as a gender-affected sport, may be regulated by UKA, the national governing body, in respect of the participation of a transgender person. We are aware of the recent Supreme Court Judgment and recent update to UKA rules.

All LUCA events are held under UKA rules, and as such, we adopt the UKA policy statements on transgender athletes. These policies can be accessed below.

Key Terminology

Transgender people are people whose gender identity is different from the sex they were observed at birth. “Trans” is often used in place of transgender.

Transgender women: : A person whose biological sex is male and whose gender identity is female.

Transgender man: A person whose biological sex is female and whose gender identity is male.

Some transgender people identify as neither male nor female, or as a combination of male and female. There are a variety of terms that people who aren’t entirely male or entirely female use to describe their gender identity, like non-binary or genderqueer.

UKA policies in summary

The UKA policy statements and how they impact LUCA competition eligibility is described below. We have also interpreted the UKA policies in relation to other domestic competitions/championships (i.e, BUCS).

Transgender

A trans man is permitted to participate fully in LUCA competitions and may compete in his affirmed gender in any male or mixed sex competition. No verification of his sex is required. A trans man should register with LUCA using his affirmed gender.

Trans females may participate in open meetings (UKA permit level 1) and it would not be necessary for anyone to know anything about the person’s affirmed gender. All LUCA events are currently at UKA permit level 1, so a trans female may participate without any verification of their sex. It is only if a trans female wishes to compete in female or mixed sex athletic competitions (as defined in the UKA Policy, i.e BUCS) that it will be necessary to ensure that there is no unfair advantage over opposing athletes. At this point the UKA Policy should be followed and its Welfare and Compliance Manager contacted.