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Transsexuality and Australian football

28th June, 2016
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Women's AFL will have an official league as of 2017. (Wikimedia Commons)
Roar Guru
28th June, 2016
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Should a transgender person be allowed to play women’s footy?

Take for instance the story of Kirsti Miller, who was born and lived over 30 years of her life as a rugged country bloke named Warren Miller.

Kirsti loves playing football, but much to her disappointment, she has been ostracised from all the local women’s footy clubs in Broken Hill.

“The rules clearly state that I can play the game.” Miller told Lace Out Podcast.

“It breaks my heart that every other person is allowed to play the game they love.”

It hasn’t always been this way – Miller played a handful of women’s footy games in 2013, copping plenty of on-field abuse due to her transsexuality.

“I copped abuse from players, officials and spectators from other clubs.

“It was a new thing to everyone so I expected some flak on the field but I thought I would receive far more support from AFL officials.

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“Never once have I ever sought for anyone to be punished for these things that happened and it is certainly not what I am advocating for.”

But after speaking out about her ordeal in 2013, she was told that she was no longer welcome at her current club.

Since that day every attempt that she has had to join a football club has been unsuccessful, despite being accepted as a respected member of her local soccer team.

The common argument is that the fact that she was born a male would give her an unfair advantage against other women and could potentially put them at a risk of being injured.

But Miller vehemently denies this and says that, if anything, she is at a disadvantage.

“In 2003 the International Olympic Committee (IOC) formed the Stockholm Consensus, which was comprised medical and sporting experts.

“They determined that post-operative male-to-female athletes will have no physical advantage after the denial of hormone treatment.

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“I am massively weaker than I used to be: my mother, sisters and daughters produce male hormones, which I do not at all.

“If you had a person the same age and same weight participating in the exact same fitness regime, they would have a massive advantage.”

Miller believes that it is an insult to the women of Broken Hill to assume that she is a physical threat and that during her playing days there were never any complaints about her being too rough.

But alas, Kirsti Miller remains a forced spectator – at least for the time being.

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