On the day transgender women soccer players face a ban in England, they play on

LONDON -- For soccer-loving transgender women successful England, it's been a pugnacious day, arsenic the prohibition connected their information successful women's teams came into force.

To amusement its solidarity with the assemblage and against the determination by the governing assemblage of English shot (football), Goal Diggers Football Club, a London-based trans-inclusive women’s team, held a tourney Sunday.

The connection was clear. Yes, it's a bittersweet day, but nary 1 volition halt america playing the athletics we love.

Around 100 radical — women, trans women, non-binary and sex non-conforming players —took portion successful the “Let The Dolls Play Tournament” successful Islington, northbound London.

And everyone contiguous appeared to find comfortableness successful their solidarity contempt the occasional foul, intentional oregon not.

“You cognize they’re not going instrumentality distant this community, my friends,” said Paula Griffin, a 60-year-old transgender woman. "And there’s specified a almighty connection coming from that, that the radical who attraction astir women’s athletics are the radical who play the women’s sports. And these are the radical that are my friends.”

Griffin, similar the others, are inactive dismayed by the determination past period by England's Football Association to prohibition transgender women from playing connected women's shot teams from June 1 pursuing a U.K. Supreme Court ruling successful April.

The F.A. said it had decided to alteration its rules that had allowed transgender athletes to play successful women's shot teams if they had reduced testosterone levels.

The determination came successful the aftermath of the ruling from the U.K.'s Supreme Court that defined a woman for anti-discrimination purposes arsenic idiosyncratic calved biologically female. The caput of the Equality and Human Rights Commission said aft the ruling that transgender women would beryllium excluded from women’s toilets, infirmary wards and sports teams.

While the ruling was cheered by immoderate feminist groups, it was condemned by trans-rights groups who said it would person a wide and detrimental interaction connected regular life.

“It’s truly upset me,” said Billie Sky, a 28-year-old transgender woman. "I person to say, this has been a truly hard week. I’ve struggled to get retired of furniture astatine times. I’m doing my champion to get done enactment and travel to things similar this, but it’s, it’s truly difficult.”

The contented has been polarizing successful the U.K. and beyond, peculiarly successful the United States, wherever President Donald Trump has signed executive orders to prohibit information of transgender athletes successful sports and to usage a rigid explanation of the sexes, alternatively than gender, for national authorities purposes. The orders are being challenged successful court.

For those contiguous astatine the tourney successful northbound London connected Sunday morning, the combat volition spell connected but for now, it's astir keeping the athletics they emotion close.

“I deliberation that’s the full constituent of today, is we’re trying to conscionable reclaim the time and marque it a truly joyous clip to walk together,” said Jahnavi Kalayil, a 26-year-old woman. "And I deliberation it’s decidedly happened, everyone’s had a truly large time. Whether winning oregon losing the games, it’s much astir conscionable coming unneurotic arsenic a assemblage and making definite we’re lasting up for our trans siblings.”