Judy Murray: ‘To believe in biological reality is not transphobic’

Believing that sportsmen have a biological advantage over women and should only compete in male categories is not prejudice, Judy Murry OBE has said.

In an interview with the Sunday Herald, the experienced sports coach said male players who identify as females benefit from the “advantages that accrue from being born male once puberty is reached”.

Earlier this year, tennis great Navratilova warned that trans ideology, especially gender self-ID, risks alienating a generation of women from participating in sport.

‘Bigger, stronger, faster’

Murray said: “I’m all for inclusivity in sport, but we’ve always had categories for a reason: to make it fair and to keep it safe. And the most obvious categories are men and women.

“This was made very clear to me during years of being involved in coaching sport for many years. You coach girls and boys differently. They’re physically different, obviously and they are emotionally different too.

“So, I’m more than aware that when children reach puberty, the boys begin to pull away from the girls hugely because they obviously become bigger, stronger and faster. Usually, boys are more competitive too and more robust than girls in general.”

Murray called for sex verification tests to be reintroduced in sport to ensure that men are not allowed to compete in women’s categories.

Unacceptable

In August, Murray spoke out against attempts by Scottish transgender golfer Hailey Davidson’s push to compete at elite-level events on the Ladies Professional Golf Association tour.

The 29-year-old biological male has undergone ‘gender reassignment surgery’ to make himself appear more feminine. He is now seeking a Ladies Professional Golf Association (LGPA) tour card to compete at elite-level events.

Murray described existing LPGA rules that allow men like Davidson to compete as unacceptable, tweeting: “No. Not fair at all. Protect women’s sport. Listen to the facts, the scientists and the medics. This is wrong.”

The LPGA, along with US Golf Association, announced this week that “any players assigned male at birth and who have gone through male puberty are not eligible”.