Transgender Player Hannah Mouncey Threatens To Sue AFL For Her Right To Play
Transgender player Hannah Mouncey has threatened to sue AFL for preventing her from entering the AFLW draft.
Back in 2017, Hannah Mouncey was prevented from entering the AFLW draft because of her 'strength, stamina or physique' and since has fighting what seems a never-ending battle for her right to play because of AFL’s new gender diversity policy. The policy states that transgender players to agree and adhere to several principles before being granted the right to play. For example, the player’s testosterone levels have to have been at or below five nmol/L for at least two years prior to nominate for the AFLW draft or play in any other elite tournaments, and then continue to maintain that lower testosterone levels whilst they play.
Hannah Mouncey has brought to light the questionable transparency of the process as well as how the issue is addressed on a state vs federal basis and she took to Twitter to share her thoughts.
She said "This is not a step I take just because being able to play football is important to me, but it is because for too long the trans community has been on the fringes of society and marginalised. Trans people deserve to be treated with the same amount of respect and dignity as the rest of society, to be made to feel a valued part of the community.
She is calling out for support for the discrimination against the transgender community in the same manner abuse has been called out against sexual harassment and racism, because discrimination against the transgender community has gone unchecked for too long.
Hannah Mouncey will have to play in the B-grade competition if the issues regarding the AFLW gender diversity policy isn’t resolved.
