The International Chess Federation announced this week it is temporarily banning transgender women — that is, biological males — from competing in women’s events.
The federation, also known as FIDE, said in a statement male players who have shifted to identifying as female have “no right to participate” in events designated for women. That decision will stand, at least until the group conducts “further analysis” of the matter, the BBC reported.
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FIDE, a Switzerland-based organization, said Monday it and its member federations are receiving an uptick in requests from transgender competitors to be recognized by their chosen identities and to be permitted to compete at events that correlate with those identities.
As a result, the international body has announced it is hitting the pause button on transgender participation in events until it can conduct a thorough analysis, which could take upwards of two years.
“Change of gender is a change that has a significant impact on a player’s status and future eligibility to tournaments,” the federation said in a statement. “Therefore, it can only be made if there is a relevant proof of the change provided. In the event that the gender was changed from a male to a female, the player has no right to participate in official FIDE events for women until [a] further FIDE’s decision is made.”
While many on the left have been critical of FIDE’s updated policy, others have praised it.
Riley Gaines, a collegiate swimmer who was forced to compete against a biological male and has since spoken out against allowing transgender athletes into female spaces, told Fox News’ Martha McCallum she “applauds” the International Chess Federation for its decision.
“The point is the women’s category is meant for women and to have men compete in it is still having spots taken away from women,” Gaines said. “The women’s chess category … was created for a reason and they’re upholding that. So I applaud the chess association for the decision and really prioritizing fairness, prioritizing what it means to be a woman.”
Moving forward, those who hold women’s titles would see those designations “abolished” should they shift to identifying as male. However, FIDE said it would hold out on the possibility of reinstatement “if the person changes the gender back to a woman.”
“If a player has changed the gender from a man into a woman, all the previous titles remain eligible,” the federation stated, noting that questions centering on transgenderism are an “evolving issue for chess” and that “further policy may need to be evolved in the future in line with research evidence.”
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