Ani O'Brien: NZ Govt instructs Sport NZ to ditch trans guidelines for community sport

What does this mean for women and for trans people?

This morning CEO of Sport New Zealand Raelene Castle released a statement that read like it had been issued with a gun to her head. In the restrained and deliberate language it is apparent rage simmers under the surface. The long battle the Crown agency has waged on this issue is all the more incredible considering that what the New Zealand Government has done is something that should be so unremarkable, so common sense.

Raelene Castle, Sport New Zealand

Sport New Zealand, our taxpayer-funded national sports agency, has been told to ditch its “inclusion guidelines” for community sport. These are the ideological and ridiculous documents produced under the previous Government that insist biological males should be allowed to play in women’s teams, compete against girls, and share changing rooms. All in the name of “kindness” and “belonging.”

It was policy capture by gender activists and they are furious to have been thwarted by (primarily) Winston Peters and New Zealand First.

The Guidelines were never about inclusion

When Sport NZ first published the transgender inclusion guidelines in 2022, the spin was heavy. We were told it was about making trans people (males who identify as women) feel safe. That sport should be “welcoming for all.” But as with most things in the post-truth era, the rhetoric masked reality and the reality was that these policies were no good for women’s safety, inclusion, and right to fair play.

These guidelines encouraged sporting codes to allow males (no matter that they have intact male bodies and testosterone-formed muscle mass) into women’s competitions. There were no meaningful protections for fairness. No safety assessments. No thought for the girls who want to enjoy community sport without exponentially higher threat of injury and to have a fair crack at winning. And certainly no concern for the teenager no longer comfortable getting changed at footy practice because she is expected to change in front of a male peer.

It wasn’t inclusion. It was erasure of any consideration for what is best for women and girls.

The Government finds its backbone?

Credit where it’s due, this coalition government seems to have located its spine. New Zealand First already demonstrated theirs in their coalition agreement and it is good to see the policy seen through. Instructing Sport NZ to pull the guidelines is a breath of fresh political air in a country where too many institutions are still paralysed by ideological capture and fear of being labelled “transphobic” for stating basic facts.

Champion of women’s sport ;)

It signals a long-overdue shift back to fairness and reason especially for women and girls, whose needs have been ignored, belittled, and gaslit in this debate. For too long, females have been expected to simply accommodate male inclusion at our own expense.

This change doesn't stop trans people from playing sport. They always have been included, and they still can. But it does recognise that sex-based categories exist for a reason and that reason is fairness and safety.

As Ro Edge from Save Women’s Sport Australasia said to Ryan Bridge on the NZ Herald “we play sport with our bodies, not our identities” and everyone can play sport, but no one has the right to the play in any category they choose,

The typical usual outrage chorus

Of course, the moment the government’s decision hit the news cycle, the activist-industrial complex fired up. We got the usual social media meltdown: “This is an attack on the rainbow community!” “This is hatred!” “This is regression!”

No, it’s not.

It’s what happens when government finally reasserts that policy should serve all citizens, not just a niche ideological class. It’s what happens when officials remember that safeguarding the rights of women and girls is not bigotry, it’s equality.

And frankly, it’s what happens when ordinary Kiwis push back. Because this didn’t come out of nowhere. It’s the result of relentless advocacy by parents, coaches, athletes, and everyday New Zealanders who were brave enough to say what so many were thinking: this isn’t fair, and we’re not okay with it. A special shout out to Ro Edge and to the women who have been fighting for our rights for years.

True heroine Ro Edge

Let’s keep the momentum going

We shouldn’t let this be a one-off. If the government is truly committed to depoliticising sport, restoring biological reality to policy, and defending truth over trend, they need to go further. They need to audit every agency under Sport NZ to ensure similar guidelines aren’t lurking in plain sight, reinforce sex-based categories in funding, facilities, and participation metrics, and give sporting bodies clear, evidence-based guidance that respects rights without capitulating to ideological extremes.

And most of all, continue listening to the majority of New Zealanders who are fed up with being told their instincts are wrong. Back in August 2023, polling shows that just 13% of New Zealanders answered ‘Yes’ to the question: “Should boys who identify as girls be allowed automatic right of access to girls sports teams such as netball or girls rugby (or vice versa)?”1

This isn’t about left or right. It’s not about who you vote for or how you live your life. It’s about whether we’re allowed to say that sex matters; in sport, in policy, and in reality.

Today, reason took a win. Let’s make sure it wasn’t just a one-off upset, but the start of a comeback.

1 https://familyfirst.org.nz/2024/06/18/media-release-government-ignores-safety-fairness-public-opinion-in-womens-sports/

Ani O'Brien comes from a digital marketing background, she has been heavily involved in women's rights advocacy and is a founding council member of the Free Speech Union. This article was originally published on Ani's Substack Site and is published here with kind permission.