Outrage erupted in the Irish sporting community after a women’s “LGBT” football team featuring a trans player defeated their finals opponent by eight goals.
A so-called LGBT women’s football team that defeated its opponent by a devastating eight goals to win the competition’s championship has sparked outrage. At least one trans player was on the team.
According to the Irish Independent, the pro-LGBT Gaelic football team Na Gaeil Aeracha easily defeated Na Fianna’s females E team in the Dublin Junior J Shield football final.
After the first break in play, the match official reportedly stopped play to inform the Na Gaeil Aeracha captain that there was “a problem with your number 21 [player]” and that “the player is a man.”
According to reports, the captain informed the referee that Valentino was transgender, but the referee responded, “this is the Ladies’ Gaelic Football Association.”
Despite his protests, the game appears to have continued with Valentino’s on-and-off presence, with Na Gaeil Aeracha romping to victory with an eight-goal lead — an improvement on the team’s four-goal victory in the semi-final match.
The Ladies’ Gaelic Football Association, the official body in charge of regulating the playing of women’s Gaelic football matches, has since announced that it is working on a policy regarding the presence of transgender athletes in matches.
Valentino has a history of being a “outspoken proponent for transgender people being allowed to play sports in the gender they choose,” according to the Irish Independent.
The former rugby player, who switched to GAA after an injury, is also said to have wanted to play in a women’s sport “for sisterhood, validation, and political visibility; as a trans woman, those things are very important to me.”