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US President Donald Trump issued an executive order banning transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports, in his latest move targeting transgender people since returning to office.

“With this executive order the war on women’s sports is over,” Trump said before he signed the order, with dozens of female athletes standing behind him.

In New Zealand, Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop has asked Sport NZ to review and update its Guiding Principles for the Inclusion of Transgender People in Community Sport.

Advocacy group InsideOut meanwhile maintains that any review involve the trans community itself, and not be used as a disguise to exclude vulnerable communities for non-sporting reasons.

Bishop said he believed the guidelines do not reflect expectations that sport be about fairness and safety as well as diversity, inclusion and equity.

“The guiding principles, published in 2022, were intended to be a helpful guide for sporting bodies grappling with a tricky issue. They are intended to be voluntary, not mandatory.”

He said he has met a range of individuals and groups, and sought advice from Sport NZ on “this genuinely difficult issue”.

“The National-New Zealand First Coalition Agreement commits the Government to ensuring publicly funded sporting bodies support fair competition that is not compromised by rules relating to gender.

“It is important that transgender people feel able to participate in community sport – but there are obviously difficult issues for sporting bodies to grapple with around fairness and safety as a result of that participation.”

He said he expected an update from Sport NZ in the coming months.

- NZ Herald and AFP