Gold Diggers Football Club (GDFC), a trans-inclusive soccer team for women, nonbinary, and gender-expansive players in Hackney, England, has announced a pro-trans equality protest tournament for June. The tournament, entitled the Let The Dolls Play Tournament, will be in protest of the Football Association’s (FA) recent ban on transgender athletes competing on women’s teams.
Weeks ago, the FA, the governing body for soccer in England, announced that it would no longer allow transgender women to compete on women’s teams. The Scottish FA adopted a similar policy.
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The organization states the policy change was made in response to the U.K. Supreme Court ruling that trans women are not women under the 2010 Equality Act. The new policy change goes into effect on June 1st, the same day GDFC will hold their tournament.
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The Instagram post announcing the tournament reads: “Join us to celebrate our incredible grassroots community and our trans teammates, and to stand in solidarity against the FA’s cruel and cowardly ban.”
“We are reclaiming this day, with a cross-club trans-inclusive football tournament. The purpose is simply to get our community together, doing what we love, and to celebrate our trans teammates.”
GDFC is a non-ability-based team that welcomes other trans and gender-nonconforming football clubs and individual players to participate in the friendly tournament.
“We’re aiming for everyone to get at least 60 minutes of football, and the day will finish with a twist: the final will be played between the two teams with the fewest wins. True to GDFC ethos — fun, community, and flipping the script,” the entry form reads.
The location for the tournament has not been announced yet, but teams can register online.
GDFC, along with other women’s football teams, has condemned the FA’s ban on trans players, with GDFC having written an open letter to FA boss Mark Bullingham demanding that the FA reconsider its stance on the matter and reverse its decision targeting transgender people.
GDFC founder, Fleur Cousens, had also joined in with over 100 people in a protest march against the ban. The march began in Haggerston Park and marched to Wembley Stadium, the headquarters of the FA, to deliver their message in person.
“We don’t want to be in any leagues under an umbrella like the FA, which is showing exactly what you should not be doing when it comes to inclusion. It’s terrible for so many reasons. It’s disgraceful that such a massive decision has been made without talking to the people in the communities that have a lived experience of being in a world that is trans-inclusive,” Cousens told The Athletic.
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