Young Swedish transgender gymnasts will be able to choose in which gender category they want to train and compete, according to a newly introduced directive of the Swedish Gymnastics Federation.

The Swedish Gymnastics Federation Svensk Gymnastik has developed new guidelines for all federation and training activities and rules for most competitions, based on recommendations on gender identity and expression of gender.

The decision was taken after the federation had gained “deep insight into the topic of gender identity and gender expression” during the summer, said Pelle Malmborg, chairman of the Swedish Gymnastics Federation, in a statement.

“Specifically for our training and competition activities, the policy means that you are welcome to train in the group to which you feel you belong, regardless of gender, gender identity or expression, and that you can compete as a binary transgender person in the competition class of your choice based on current competition rules”.

Trans* teenagers can compete in the category of their choice up to the age of 13 to 18, depending on the discipline. However, the new rules do not apply to older athletes*, as they will have to adapt to international rules.

Trans* children are often excluded from sports.
The Swedish Gymnastics Federation is the first national sports federation in Sweden to respond to the call of the Swedish Federation for the Rights of Homosexual, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersexual (RFSL).

In October, the RFSL published a report on trans* people in sport, focusing on children and young people. The results of the report “Trans & Sports – no one should be left out” show that trans* young people feel excluded of many sports. The reasons lie in the superficial gender segregation in sport, uncertainties about changing rooms and fears of not being respected or even bullied.

Other sports associations are following suit

Other Swedish sports federations, such as the Swedish Football Association, the Swedish Skating Federation and the Swedish Volleyball Federation, have announced that they will also adopt directives to become more inclusive.

The Swedish Football Association intends to publish the new Directive before the end of 2021. Per Widén, Manager of the Swedish Football Association’s Education and Development Unit, said

“We have decided to develop a directive on the inclusion of trans* persons, which we intend to finalise during 2021. As a synergy effect of the political work, we will present a directive in the autumn. In short, the directive will make it easier for children and young people to play in their preferred team”.

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