Club Inclusivity Update

You may have seen in the news that British Cycling and Cycling Time Trials have recently updated their policies for transgender and non-binary athletes. We’d like to take this opportunity to update our own club policies, explain what this means for members, and how we’d like to approach this going forwards.

Our response

As a board, we do not agree with the stance that sees trans women as a problem, as suspicious, or as cheats-in-waiting. We consider trans people our friends and club mates, and believe that our duty is to create the structures and space to allow everyone to enjoy cycling.

What are our first steps?

We will begin by following the British Cycling/CTT categorisation for competitive club events, such as our time trials and hill climb. There will be two categories, and for consistency we use the British Cycling terminology below:

Open (formerly Men’s)

“Transgender women, transgender men, non-binary individuals and those whose sex was assigned male at birth will be eligible to compete in the ‘Open’ category”

Women

“remains in place for those whose sex was assigned female at birth and transgender men who are yet to begin hormone therapy.‘

This will be implemented for the next club time trial on 13 July. Those eligible for the Women’s category may enter the Open if they prefer.

Riders will be able to specify which category they want to enter (Open or Women). No other questions will be asked by us.

Is this the best possible solution?

Actually no, we don’t think so. Treating non-binary and trans athletes as ‘quasi men’ doesn’t provide a level playing field and underlines the idea of ‘men-as-norm’. We’d really like to move away from this.

What would we like to see happen?

We would like to add a third category, which we propose to call ‘Inclusive’. Any club member will be allowed to participate regardless of their current or past gender identification. Members and visitors will not be asked to disclose any of these details in order to compete. We hope to grow this category as a space in which all feel welcome, and in which they can enjoy their bodies, rather than have them policed. We appreciate that there are still complexities and nuances within this area, but we are keen to explore a new way of working. We’d love to hear from individuals and groups who would like to help us build and shape this new category. Please contact us at [email protected] if you’d like to be involved.

What about non-competitive events?

There is no change. We will continue to welcome club members to all of our events. Activities that are gender labelled, such as women’s rides or backpacking, are open to all who identify as such. Condors have a long track record of being friendly and inclusive – we intend to keep it that way.

Cheryl Reid (Club President) and the Condors Board