(1 Jun 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY: AP AND SNTV CLIENTS MAY USE
ASSOCIATED PRESS – AP AND SNTV CLIENTS MAY USE
London, UK – 1 June 2025
1. Team members forming a circle with hands before the match
2. Various of Billie Sky, transgender woman footballer, at Goal Diggers FC, playing
3. Various of the match
4. Sky scoring goal
5. Wide of the match
6. Paula Griffin, transgender woman footballer at Goal Diggers FC, stopping the ball
7. Griffin
8. Transgender flag
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Billie Sky, transgender woman footballer at Goal Diggers FC:
"I feel very excited, not only that a tournament like this is taking place, but also I feel very privileged to be so close to this tournament and you know I feel proud of my team. I think, you know, there’s so many cis women that support the inclusion of trans women in sport and it really means a lot to see that, you know, physically and invisibly because it’s something I think that people that don’t play football would should know."
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Paula Griffin, transgender woman footballer at Goal Diggers FC:
"The support and solidarity as today is going to show over this last month has been absolutely incredible. We are not going to go away because of this. We are still here. And you know they’re not going take away this community, my friends. And there’s such a powerful message coming from that, that the people who care about women’s sport are the people who play the women’s sports. And these are the people that are my friends."
11. Various of players getting ready
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Jahnavi Kalayil, woman football player:
"I think it’s really, obviously sad news and it’s coming from a point of people trying to take away from communities like this that are just trying to enjoy themselves and have a safe space where they feel like they can be themselves and find like-minded people to spend time with. But I think that’s the whole point of today, is we’re trying to just reclaim the day and make it a really joyous time to spend together. And I think it’s definitely happened, everyone’s had a really great time, whether winning or losing the games, it’s more about just coming together as a community and making sure we’re standing up for our trans siblings."
13. Various of match
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Hatty Farnham, woman football player:
"We have had to drop out of quite a few our leagues because they can’t promise that they can remain trans inclusive. And so it just means that we’ve gone back to like playing friendlies in the park. And it’s just really sad because apart from it being like a huge step backwards for trans rights, it’s just a big step backwards to women’s football in general, like we want to play in competitions, we want to have refs, we want play on proper pitches. And in order to show up for our trans siblings and friends we’ve had to step out of our leagues and go back to playing friendlies in the park. It just feels like, yeah, a massive shame."
15. Goal
16. Transgender flag band on player’s arm
STORYLINE:
Sunday was a tough day for soccer-loving transgender women in England, as a ban on their participation in women’s teams came into force.
To show solidarity with the community and against the decision by the governing body of English football, a London-based trans-inclusive women’s team called Goal Diggers staged a tournament.
The message was clear: Yes, it was a sad day, but no one would stop transgender women playing the sport they loved.
And everyone present appeared to find comfort in their solidarity despite the occasional foul, intentional or not.
Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/
You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/eb3898d64319458aaa8f52e9ebfeab94
Author: AP Archive
Go to Source
News post in June 6, 2025, 9:05 pm.
Visit Our Sponsor’s:
News Post In – News
