United States
United Kingdom
Summary
- Australia debating on sports policies over trans-people
- Emma McKeon shares her views on trans-athletes competing in sports
- PM Scott Morrison hits out at cancel culture ahead of Federal Election
Australian Olympic swimmer Emma McKeon has waded into the country’s heated transgender sporting debate.
The Olympian said that while she desires sports to be more inclusive of trans people, she finds the thought of competing against a biologically male swimmer extremely concerning.
The already heated debate on the inclusion of transgender people in competitive sports has intensified due to the upcoming Federal Elections.
The five-time Olympic gold medallist said that she would refrain from competing with biologically male swimmers as it would be unfair to female swimmers. At a seminar titled ‘A Better Future for All’, McKeon emphasised the significance of fair rules in competitive sporting events. She also acknowledged that the inclusion of trans sportspersons is an important issue that should be considered by the sports community.
McKeon’s comments come when Australia’s Coalition government is busy confronting Liberal candidate Katherine Deves’ previous comments on the transgender debate. Deves had attracted controversy for making parallels to the grudge trials of the Third Reich and invoking the Nazis in her now-deleted Twitter comments.
Breaking: Liberal candidate Katherine Deves new Nazi tweets slammed by Jewish groups who have urged her to quit the Third Reich references. She says her “apology stands” https://t.co/q5jSnFSYa8 pic.twitter.com/cGwqt9FLqX
— Samantha Maiden (@samanthamaiden) April 18, 2022
Liberal MP Trent Zimmerman, New South Wales (NSW) MP Felicity Wilson, and state treasurer Matt Kean took umbrage at Deves’ allegedly transphobic and ‘ill-informed’ views and urged for her disendorsement from the Liberal Party.
There is no place in a mainstream political party for bigotry. Coming out as Trans would be hugely challenging, especially for kids, and political leaders should be condemning the persecution of people based on their gender, not participating in it. https://t.co/3gMymtzvz3
— Matt Kean MP (@Matt_KeanMP) April 15, 2022
PM Morrison’s Hits Out At Cancel Culture
Amidst the calls to disendorse Deves, Australian PM Scott Morrison has called out the country’s cancel culture. Defending Deves’ controversial views on the transgender debate, Morrison expressed his anguish at cancelling people for expressing themselves and said that it was high time for Aussies to eschew walking on eggshells, daunted by the fear of offending someone.
The PM gave a clarion call and urged Aussies to put the past behind them and adopt a sensitive approach to promote the issues they feel passionately about instead of brutally attacking those who have a different opinion on issues.
In his strongly-worded statement, Morrison expressed his displeasure at cancelling personalities like Deves for their past transgressions.
While Morrison has advocated a sensitive way to deal with the inclusion of trans people in sports, he has taken a hard stance against professional athletes who have transitioned before competing in events.
