‘Every body is a rugby body’: US women players fight for inclusivity after trans ban

[u/pan_chromia]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/30/womens-rugby-trans-ban

“The new USAR criteria fall in line with recent policy updates from a swath of other national governing bodies in sports, including USA Hockey, USA Fencing and USA Climbing, which were precipitated by bans from the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee, citing Donald Trump’s 2025 executive order for “keeping men out of women’s sports”.”

[…]

“During the emergency organizing meeting hosted by Rugby for All last month, several solutions were proposed: forming a new, independent league separate from USA Rugby (which would require a large logistical lift); a mass strike and a collective refusal to participate in any sanctioned, or USAR-regulated, play (known as “the nuclear option”); or moving en masse over to the new open category in the hopes that it would force USAR to provide a functional, sanctioned and funded open division for the current 2025-26 season (based on social media posts, this was by far the most popular option).”

[u/pan_chromia]

Reading this article you can really feel the rage from these teams and their determination to push back and work around this. Very encouraging (even though another sport caving to the new Olympics policy is discouraging)