Last week, Donald Trump signed an Executive Order banning transgender women from female sport, beneath the title, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sport”, and on Monday of this week, World Athletics issued updated eligibility rules for the female category.

On this week’s podcast, Gavin and Sinéad explain what these rulings actually mean, and then explore the broader debate: is it fair to ban trans women from female sport?

They tease out the reasoning behind World Athletics’ new rules, and question some of its basis and forecast some potential, unintended consequences.

They also ask: why does a complex, sensitive issue such as this get so much media coverage? They look at the political reasons the topic gets so much media coverage, why Trump was so moved to sign an executive order on the subject, why Graham Linehan and JK Rowling have become so combative on the issue, and ask whether sport is really the right prism through which to look at trans issues.

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This week’s episode of The 42FM is brought to you by An Post Money.

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