On the August 26 the Deputy Chief Magistrate of NSW found me guilty of the “unlawful vilification” of two male bodied athletes playing in female sporting teams. 

My crime was to identify them and use them as case studies as to why we need to engage in a rigorous policy debate in Australia. 

Women and girls have no avenue of complaint or any opportunity to be heard by sporting organisations who refuse to register complaints, or worse, threaten the players, coaches and officials with legal action if they object.

You can read the full decisions here and here.

I would like to highlight a few sections for your consideration. 

The magistrate and the law accepts this. But what on earth does it mean to identify as a woman if we can’t define what a woman is? What on earth does it mean to live “as a woman”? It is a nonsense statement that cannot be defined or measured. The only way to define “woman” that makes sense and is evidenced based is “an adult human female”.

If we begin in the wrong place it is no wonder we end in the wrong place. If we can redefine the word woman and make it meaningless, then words like violence and vilification are also fair game.

The magistrate claims it is not about women’s sport and that it is a vexed issue. In both cases this was written in each judgement:

That is all well and good but not entirely accurate. The issue is not a vexed one for starters. There are male and female divisions for a reason. Males cannot become female. They are not being excluded, they can play in male, mixed or open categories.

If we can’t prove that males are playing in female sports, if athletes and coaches, parents and officials run the risk of falling foul of this law why would they speak out? If we can’t use images from the public domain and publicly available information to demonstrate that males are in female divisions how can we engage in policy debate? 

In finding me guilty of unlawful vilification the magistrate wrote:

This was never about hatred towards these players. It has only ever been about a bad policy that allows them access to women’s sport and sex-based spaces. I can’t control how other people feel. I reported the facts, but the facts don’t seem to matter. Why don’t the feelings of females matter, why is it only males who identify as female have protections under the act?

It is a public act by these players to engage in female teams. 

The magistrate asserted:

There certainly were several “incidents” while Football NSW and Football Australia made it painfully clear that the females in the competition were not permitted to complain or object. There is video and anecdotal evidence that was not considered even though you can find it online. Clubs were intimidated into silence out of fear of also being penalised in court.

The whole process has been frustrating and there are 111 pages for you to digest if you want the full picture. 

The penalties won’t be handed down until November 5. It could be up to $200,000 plus court costs, an apology and re-education.

If you would like to donate please do so at www.binary.org.au/donate or contact me for more details.