sport news Lucy Zelic says trans athletes should NOT be allowed to compete against females ... trends now
Respected football commentator Lucy Zelic has weighed into the controversy surrounding a women's soccer team that won a tournament while fielding five trans players, declaring she believes they shouldn't play against biological females.
The Flying Bats team took out the Beryl Ackroyd tournament in Sydney on March 24, winning every game they played and running out 4-0 victors in the grand final, with one trans player scoring six goals in a 10-0 romp on their way to the title.
Officials from rival clubs contacted governing body Football NSW to express their concerns, with some insisting the Flying Bats should play in the mixed competition, which includes men.
Now Zelic - who has hosted football World Cups for SBS - made her feelings on the controversy clear in a series of tweets this week.
Soccer expert and former SBS World Cup commentator Lucy Zelic (pictured) has divided Australians with her stance on a women's football team that fields trans players
Sydney's Flying Bats team (pictured) won a recent tournament without dropping a game, even smashing the opposition 10-nil on their way to victory with five trans players in the side
'Looking at this through the lens of sport, I don't agree with transgender participants in women's sport,' she wrote.
'Not because I am transphobic, but because I am a big believer in protecting the integrity of the sport.
'Equally, transgender people are human beings and deserve to be given grace, understanding and a place where they can be heard but no on is interested in hearing both sides of this discussion - only shouting and using radical language to demonise, cancel or destroy lives.
'It should be ok for me, or any woman - to respectfully raise concerns around the inclusion of transgender people in their spaces but it's not and that's alarming in itself.'
Zelic went on to slam anti-trans campaigners for using 'horrid and disgusting language' as she blamed them for creating an atmosphere in which people who respect transgender people feel they cannot express opinions like hers.
'Women are terrified to speak openly about this issue and that's not ok,' she wrote.
Zelic said women are 'terrified' to speak openly about the issue - and made it clear that while she supports trans inclusion, she doesn't believe trans players should compete against biological females in order to protect 'the integrity of the sport'
In a later tweet she added: 'The Sex Discrimination Act 1984 “protects people from unfair treatment on the basis of their sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, intersex status, marital or relationship status, pregnancy and breastfeeding.”
'But what do we do when the safety and welfare of biological female footballers comes under threat and what protections do we have in place for them?'
Zelic also posted a link to an article quoting St Patrick's Football Club president Frank Parisi - whose team plays in the same competition as the Flying Bats - claiming 24 female players have quit the team in order to avoid playing the side.
Her stance divided people who
