The City Council is committed to the genuine and effective inclusion of transgender people in sports

The Tenerife Island Council has approved a motion in which it makes a public commitment to the genuine and effective inclusion of transgender people in sports and strongly condemns any form of transphobia in this area.

The text states that “as a public institution, we agree to promote the genuine and effective inclusion of transgender people in sports, in compliance with Law 1/2019 of January 30 on Physical Activity and Sports in the Canary Islands.”

Accordingly, the Tenerife Island Council “makes a firm and explicit commitment, within the scope of its authority and in collaboration with sports federations, to ensure that transgender individuals are included in the categories corresponding to their gender identity, as currently recognized by existing regional legislation.”

In addition, the Island Council “will resume dialogue and collaboration with LGBTIQA+ organizations on the island of Tenerife, so that they may, in any case, participate in any action or initiative that the Tenerife Island Council launches in this area, especially those carried out in collaboration with sports federations.” The agreement also provides for notifying the municipal governments and LGBTIQA+ organizations on the island of Tenerife of the approval of this agreement.

The approved motion states that, in recent times, transgender people—including, in particular, children and adolescents—“have been direct victims of a relentless rise in instances of discrimination that violate their most basic fundamental rights in many areas of their lives.”

“During the parliamentary process for legislation aimed at achieving real and effective equality for transgender people, some critics have gone so far as to deny the existence of transgender people, opposing any form of gender self-determination and, in particular, it has been fervently argued that transgender people should not have the right to participate in sports in the categories that correspond to their self-defined gender identity, which has had a direct impact on the rights of transgender people participating in sports in Tenerife,” the resolution states.

In the realm of sports—”an essential activity for personal development”—the trans community faces real difficulties in participating freely and voluntarily. Trans people do not have the same opportunities to participate in sports, especially in competitive sports.

Beyond the complexity of the debate that this issue might spark and the challenges it poses within sports federations—with which it is essential to continue collaborating on all their activities, especially policies for inclusion in sports— “the current legislative framework in Spain and the Canary Islands establishes as a duty of public authorities the genuine and effective inclusion of transgender people in sports, as well as the rejection of any form of discrimination based on gender identity in the sporting arena. This must be linked to the constitutional mandate requiring public authorities to remove obstacles that prevent or hinder the full, real, and effective equality of individuals and groups in society,” he asserts.

In this regard, based on the applicable regulations at the regional level in the Canary Islands, Law 1/2019, of January 30, on Physical Activity and Sports in the Canary Islands, establishes in Article 5 that public authorities “shall promote and ensure that participation in sports and physical activity takes place on an equal footing, without discrimination on the basis of gender identity and/or expression.”

Furthermore, the Canary Islands law states that “full equality and freedom for transgender and intersex individuals and for LGBTI athletes in general will be guaranteed,” as well as that “measures will be adopted to ensure that the proper training of professionals in sports education and physical activity incorporates sexual and gender diversity and the respect and protection of this community against any discrimination based on gender identity or expression,” while also “promoting inclusive sports and physical activity, eradicating all forms of homophobic, lesbophobic, biphobic, and/or transphobic behavior at sporting events held in the Canary Islands.”

Furthermore, it provides that “the rules governing the use of sports facilities shall mandatorily establish the possibility for people in the process of gender self-determination to use restrooms or locker rooms based on their gender identity,” as well as that “under no circumstances shall the participation of transgender athletes be conditional upon the prior submission of any medical or psychological report.”