Discussion Item 5A4 FIDE transgender female ban from FIDE women's events

[Lyle Craver]

For the benefit of Voting Members who have not heard, FIDE has published a ban on transgender females from FIDE Women's events.

You can find the original FIDE statement at
https://doc.fide.com/docs/DOC/2FC2023/CM2_2023_45.pdf

The CFC Response:

The Chess Federation of Canada disagrees with and is disappointed by the FIDE decision to ban transgender women from competing in women's chess events. We disagree with the way it was implemented, involving the banning of transgender women and subsequently studying the issue to arrive at a final decision. This decision came as a surprise, with no prior discussion or indication that this action was being considered. There were no exigent circumstances that we are aware of that would require such a drastic action.

We are aware of only one transgender Canadian woman with the skill level to qualify for events like the Olympiad or a Continental women's championship, and that is Morgen Mills. She represented the CFC at the Olympiad in Chennai, India in 2022 and also at the last women's continental championship in the same year. Due to a combination of COVID-related challenges, a complex Indian visa process for Canadians, and personal circumstances, we faced significant difficulties in sending teams to the Olympiad, particularly the women's team. Without Morgen Mills' participation, we would not have been able to field a complete women's team for the Olympiad. In fact, our fifth player, Rachel Chen, was unable to attend due to complications with the Indian visa process. The remaining four players, including Morgen, Maili-Jade Ouellet, Veronica Guo, and Svitlana Demchenko, had to compete without a substitute. In my role as the head of delegation for the Canadian contingent at the Olympiad and the FIDE meetings in 2022, I was deeply involved in the visa process for Chennai. I was truly impressed and inspired by Morgen's positive and optimistic demeanor in the face of bureaucratic challenges that threatened the Canadian teams' participation in the Olympiad.

Morgen represented the CFC at the 2022 Women's Continental on short notice, as we often receive information about such events only a few weeks before their commencement. Although we were entitled to send two players to the women's continental championship, Morgen was the only player able to participate given the limited notice.

The Chess Federation of Canada values Morgen Mills' contributions and participation in women's chess events. We wish to emphasize to FIDE the importance of open communication, thoughtful consideration, and fair policies when making decisions that impact the chess community. We cannot agree with this decision and urge FIDE to reconsider the actions taken.

Vladimir Drkulec
President
Chess Federation of Canada

[Les Bunning]

This is a highly controversial issue where reasonably minded people have different points of view. I suggest that it be debated and have a governors vote on the issue.
Les Bunning

[Vladimir Drkulec]

We cannot vote at this meeting as it requires three weeks notice.

It is a complicated question of balancing the competing interests of the transgender community and biologically born females. This follows World Athletics and other international organizations restricting transgender athletes from competing in their women's events. Chess is not a sport which emphasizes physical strength. Women can compete with men or transgender women.

The Canadian government can define who is and isn't a female. It is way above my pay grade to dispute such determinations by the Canadian government.

We have one transgender player strong enough to make an Olympiad team or to represent Canada at a Continental and that is Morgen Mills of Newfoundland. At no point did Morgen bump a biological female from the Olympiad or Continental.

In the case of the Olympiad we would not have been able to field a complete women's team without Morgen's participation due to the idiotic red tape applied to Canadians to attend the Chennai, India event. I believe that most of our team players only got their visas five days before the planes were scheduled to leave. Our fifth player never got her visa.

I gained great respect for Morgen based on her reactions to the Kafkaesque absurd situation that we found ourselves in when we were seeking those visas. She is a very sunny, positive person who handles absurd situations well.

In the case of the Continental we had two spots and only Morgen could attend after we were provided with information of the event very late.

Morgen is currently number six on our FIDE rankings list for Canadian women which may or not be complete. Morgen is number 28 on the CFC rating list which also may or may not be complete. Qualification by rating is based on a blended rating of CFC plus FIDE for women.

The voting members cannot and should not put us in a position where the CFC is violating Canadian human rights laws.

By all means we can discuss this decision and statement.

[Vladimir Drkulec]

Do the voting members think the CFC response was too weak, too strong, just right? Lets keep things respectful.

[Don Hack]

Just right - very reasonable.

[Vladimir Drkulec]

Just right - very reasonable.

Thanks, Don.

[Christopher Field]

Just right - very reasonable.

I agree.
Christopher Field.

[Richard Bowes]

I disagree with the CFC response. A male shouldn't be permitted to play on the women's team. The fact that one "identifies" as female doesn't make one a female and the women's team was formed for females only, and not for those who "identify" as female. If one male can play on the women's team then all CFC male members should be eligible to apply for it. If the chess world is to accommodate gender dysphoria then FIDE should create two new categories of teams, one for transgendered females and one for transgendered males.

[Vladimir Drkulec]

I disagree with the CFC response. A male shouldn't be permitted to play on the women's team. The fact that one "identifies" as female doesn't make one a female and the women's team was formed for females only, and not for those who "identify" as female. If one male can play on the women's team then all CFC male members should be eligible to apply for it. If the chess world is to accommodate gender dysphoria then FIDE should create two new categories of teams, one for transgendered females and one for transgendered males.

Thank you for your thoughts. The problem with sending four teams instead of two is that it would likely be cost prohibitive as you would double the cost of the Olympiad. In the last Olympiad, it would have been impossible to get four teams visas to India and our expenses would have approached $100k which was certainly more than all of our revenues during Covid.

Under the rules in place at the last Olympiad, all CFC male members who had changed their legal gender to female and had that change recorded into their government documentation such as passports were eligible. The Olympiad in India was problematic in several respects. Not many players wanted to go to India with Covid still raging and India didn't seem to want Canadians to attend until FIDE and likely top Indian officials read the riot act to embassy/consulate staff.

On the open team often popularly referred to as the men's team we had an easier time because several of the players and the captain had non-Canadian passports. At one point we seriously considered folding the women's team into the men's team because we didn't have enough players for a complete team a week or so before our planes were to take off. Miraculously everything fell into place five days before the planes were to leave and most of our players got their visas though one of the women's team members did not.

In deciding our course of action we always have to consider what is fair to our Canadian players (including our one and only strong transgender woman player) and what is best for the CFC. The CFC has to operate within the laws that exist in Canada. We cannot break the law including Canadian human rights laws. It is above our pay grade to argue with those laws. We don't have the resources to challenge those laws and even if we did, we would not get involved in such a fight. Our fiduciary duty to the CFC would preclude it. Our conscience precludes it. We made history last year with the participation of Morgen Mills in the Olympiad and the Continental. Morgen did not bump any woman in either of those tournaments. In the Continental we had two places but were only able to find one taker for the two women's spots and that was Morgen. Morgen is a worthy person to be our first transgender female to represent Canada at such a high level event. Morgen is a genuinely nice person. My personal faith and belief is that God loves Morgen Mills just like God loves you and me.

I have to personalize this situation because it is not an abstract, theoretical argument. It is a concrete situation affecting a real person, a nice person, a person who represented Canada and the CFC, a teammate.

The FIDE ban is not particularly well written as a quick reading could imply that Morgen is not covered as her reassigned gender occurred in the past. It also violates due process as you have taken a right away that was in place the day before the policy changed. The usual sequence is to study and then implement. Here they are implementing and then studying for a final determination.

It is a strange year when I talk to national media outlets and one of the points of contention is whether Hans Neiman used a sex toy transmitting Morse code to cheat at over the board chess (he didn't) and where the FIDE ban on transgender women is the biggest chess story at the moment.

[Roger Langen]

Of all the sports, chess should have the least difficulty accommodating transgender players. While the debate concerning rating differences between women and men remains interestingly unsettled, the principle that chess is essentially gender-blind is not really up for debate. The fact that FIDE creates a "Women's" category distinct from "Open" events is more or less reflective of the main debate. If women players objected to transgender players, wouldn't that mean they were ceding the argument? Even less attractive is that "male" players should offer rescue where rescue is not needed. If I were a female player, I would welcome the transgender player as an opportunity to continue to show my worth as a chess player, and to welcome that player as a comrade, as another female spirit.