‘No play for trans men: How the LTA transgender policy excluded trans men from tennis’
"The new revised policy is just the beginning for trans people in the UK, including trans men who are largely forgotten in the so called ‘transgender debate’," writes Dr. Keio Yoshida
I love tennis. I have played it as a kid on grass courts on my hometown and I continue to love playing as an adult. I’m not a serious player, but it’s a part of my life. I played two tournaments this summer and lost in the first round in both. I didn’t mind; it’s for the love of the game.
I recently woke up to a new reality due to the new revised policy by the British Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) on participation in structured competitions in tennis at any level. The new reality is that from 1 September 2026 in the UK trans men are excluded from playing the sport that they love – they cannot play in the men or women’s category.
The new revised policy is just the beginning for trans people in the UK, including trans men who are largely forgotten in the so called ‘transgender debate’. Trans women it turns out can continue to compete regardless of gender affirming hormones, trans men on the other hand cannot. We are now excluded from the men and women’s categories.
Why is this? On the 5 August the Equality and Human Rights Commission published its new Code of Practice on the Interpretation of the Equality Act 2010. This followed the Supreme Court’s decision in the For Women Scotland case, which held that ‘sex’ for the purposes of the Equality Act is biological sex.
Following this the LTA decided to revise its Trans and Non-Binary Policy from 2024, which restricted transgender women’s participation in competitions. The policy, it argued is based on available evidence that tennis is a ‘gender affected sport’ and therefore it restricted transgender women and non-binary individuals who were male at birth from playing in the women’s category in competitions. The rationale provided for this is that there is a significant difference in sport performance between biological men and biological women, and that this means a separate women’s category is necessary. The policy states that this is due to a difference in strength, power and endurance and the significant anatomical differences between men and women.
The LTA policy says it therefore has two aims; it intends to facilitate the provision of opportunities for transgender and non-binary players to participate in a safe and supportive environment while also maintaining fair and meaningful competition conditions for players. The policy therefore seeks to address one of the big debates which have been circulating on sports participation. Is it fair for transgender women to compete in the women’s sporting category? The policy attempts to resolve this by stipulating that trans women – irrespective of any gender affirming hormone therapy commenced are eligible to compete in the male rather than female category. This echoes decisions made by the US Supreme Court and other sporting bodies.
Reading the LTA website you would think that the revision is all about restricting trans women’s access to the women’s category of structured competitions. But a remarkable feature of the policy and the player guidance is that the differential impact and the exclusionary impact of the policy in fact falls on trans men. I had assumed that trans men would be allowed to play in the male competition. This is in line with the official ATP Tour policy which provides that trans men on testosterone can compete in the male category whether or not he is taking testosterone (with a medical note). And this of course makes sense. There is no issue of fair and meaningful advantage or disadvantage of trans men competing in the male category of the sport.
The LTA has taken a different and discriminatory approach. The policy says that trans men who have never commenced gender affirming hormone treatment, can play in the women’s category, but otherwise trans men who are on gender affirming hormones are not eligible to compete in the women’s category nor the men’s category. Effectively this means that trans men (who take hormones to transition which is what makes many of us trans men) are now excluded from playing the sport that we love. It is even more absurd because if we played at a professional level, we would be able to play on the professional men’s tennis tour.
The policy says its aim is to ‘facilitate the provision of opportunities for transgender and non binary players’. In reality, trans men have had their opportunity to play, and compete cruelly removed for no legitimate reason.
Dr Keio Yoshida is a barrister and author of Pride and Prejudices: queer lives and the law.