- Laura Woods has waded into sport’s row over transgender athletes
- She was sent death threats to her unborn child when she previously spoke out
TNT Sports presenter Laura Woods hit out at a Labour peer on social media on Wednesday as she waded into a debate on transgender athletes in sport.
During a debate in the House of Lords on Tuesday, Labour spokeswoman Fiona Twycross was asked about fairness, safety and equality for women in sport after boxers Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-Ting won gold medals at the Paris Olympics despite allegedly failing gender tests last year.
Addressing the gender row in boxing, Twycross revealed the government had not spoken to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) or boxing authorities as she claimed reporting around the fighters was ‘highly speculative’.
Twycross added: ‘The Sports Council guidance recognises the need for solutions for different sports based on the points that the noble lady raises. They found two diametrically opposed camps which I think are reflected in the Chamber today when it came to inclusion of trans women.
‘And the guidance found that you can’t easily reconcile inclusion with fairness and safety in relation to sport, and it is more straightforward with male sport. The Sports Council also recognised, which I feel strongly your Lordship’s House should as well, that society is changing, and simply keeping the existing arrangements in sport won’t accommodate inclusion and actually won’t serve anyone well.’
Laura Woods has hit out at a Labour peer’s response during a debate on transgender athletes in sport
Labour peer Fiona Twycross (pictured) revealed the government had not spoken to the IOC or boxing authorities after Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-Tin won gold medals at the Paris Olympics despite allegedly failing gender tests last year
Imane Khelif struck gold in the women’s welterweight division at the Paris Olympics this year
Lin Yu-Ting also won a women’s boxing gold medal at this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris
Woods revealed in July that she is expecting her first child with Love Island star Adam Collard, and she received death threats to her unborn baby the last time she spoke out on transgender athletes in sport, but she has decided to speak out again
Woods is expecting her first child with former Love Island star Adam Collard and received death threats to her unborn baby the last time she spoke out on the transgender debate, but she still took to X to slam Twycross’s response on Wednesday afternoon in a series of posts.
Her first post read: ‘Crazy discussion in the House of Lords around women’s sport. @Baronessjenkin highlighted a UN study published in August calculated: “By March this year over 600 female athletes in more than 400 events were defeated by trans-identifying males who took a total of 890 medals.”
‘“I’m not aware of that report” was the response from @fionatwycross. The report is entitled: “Violence Against Women and Girls in Sport.” Why isn’t she aware of it?’
Woods continued: ‘Fairness and safety MUST be the MOST important factors in sport. At ALL levels. Including and especially grass routes. This can not keep happening.
‘Transgender people SHOULD absolutely have a place in sport, but NOT at the expense of safety or fairness for women. And it is not up to women to find that solution. These categories should be protected.’
Woods also got involved in boxing’s gender row when the Olympics took place in August after Khelif and Lin went all the way in Paris to claim gold.
On the final day of Olympic competition, The Telegraph’s Oliver Brown published an article titled: ‘Blinded by ideology: Inside boxing row that undermined IOC and tarnished Olympics’.
Woods’ original reply to a Telegraph article in August sparked a mass debate in her comment section
Brown declared in the article that IOC president Thomas Bach had ‘failed in his duty to protect female athletes by allowing Khelif and Lin to win gold despite failing sex tests’.
A day after the article was published, Woods replied to a post by the author on X as she wrote: ‘Great article Oli’, followed by an applause emoji.
This comment sparked hundreds of replies to Woods, who then argued with several fans via the social media network.
A different comment aimed at Woods read: ‘Actually it isn’t, do a bit more research!’ Woods hit back: ‘Which part?’
Another fan simply wrote: ‘Ewww’, to which Woods replied: ‘What’s eww, Jamie? Be more specific’.
One of the longer tweets aimed at Woods read: ‘Pretty poor – She’s had tests to prove her gender and she was born a woman. No actual evidence of her failing XY tests as well’.
Woods demanded more information as she wrote: ‘Which tests were those and where’s the evidence of that?’
Two days later, Woods revealed she had received online death threats to her unborn baby.
‘Since I replied to this article I’ve had numerous death threats to myself and my unborn child,’ wrote Woods. ‘Questions on my own gender (I’m pregnant so guess that clears that one up) calls for my employers to sack me, threats to my home.
‘I’ve been called a racist, a bigot and a sexist as well as various insults – ****, s**g etc.
Woods took to social media app X to share the abuse that she had been receiving after wading in on the Olympic boxing gender row
‘I’ve also been asked why I haven’t raised any concerns on this topic before? See above for your answer.
‘When there are discrepancies with test results – which could impact the safety of another human being, in an environment that above all else should be fair – questions are quite rightly going to be asked. The answers are still unclear, otherwise this topic would be closed.’
Despite the backlash that she received last time, Woods has decided to express her outspoken views on transgender athletes in sport once more, insisting that women’s rights must be ‘protected’.