RFU Transgender Policy – Consultation

The RFU is conducting a review of its transgender policy which sets out the eligibility criteria for playing contact rugby union in England.

As part of the review process, the external consultation for the proposed policy is now open. The consultation period will run until 5pm on Friday 16 April and we welcome your feedback.

We encourage anyone who wishes to engage in the external consultation to read the proposed policy in full and watch the video before completing the survey.

You can find all of this information, including the survey link and background video, via the button below.

As the national governing body for rugby union in England, it is the responsibility of the RFU to regulate participation in order to promote the safe and equitable treatment of all taking part.

Rugby Union is a sport for all and the RFU seeks to promote equal opportunities to ensure that anyone who wishes to play the game should be able to do so without prejudice. It’s important to consider the individuals involved and the sense of community and acceptance that our transgender players tell us rugby provides for them.

As a contact sport, player welfare is paramount and the proposed policy seeks to strike a balance between inclusion, fairness and safe participation

Transgender Support Links

Key information and messaging

  • The background video and full proposed policy can be found here which explains the approach we are taking to balance all the relevant issues.
  • The RFU welcomes all feedback on this proposed policy. The external consultation was launched last week to enable everyone who wishes to engage to be able to share their comments via the online consultation portal  here
  • Please encourage people to complete the online survey above so we can ensure it is captured by the consultation team.
  • Should you be asked about any terminology used within the document, the majority of terminology has been taken from World Rugby’s Transgender

    guidelines

    to allow for consistency in the sport, but we are open to taking a different approach in our domestic policy.

  • As part of this external consultation, we welcome feedback on everything contained within the proposed policy, including the terminology used.