A woman darts player has been thrown out of her ladies’ league — because she used to be a man. Christine Makin, formerly Clive, had to quit her pub team after 17 out of 25 rival sides protested.
She revealed she was cruelly taunted during games, with opponents shouting: “You can’t play because you’re not womanly enough.”
Christine, 51, was married for 13 years as a man but became a woman through a series of sex-change operations.
Now, just like David Walliams’s Emily Howard character in Little Britain, she insists: “I’m a laydee.”
But Leek Ladies’ Darts League in Staffs disagreed.
Christine was turfed out for the 2006/7 season under Rule 35, which states: “Under no circumstances can any person of any gender play in the league unless that person was born a female.”
She claims the rule was brought in specially to keep her out.
Christine said: “I’m a bit surprised. It’s not the 1920s or 30s, it’s 2006. It’s unfair. I can’t play for a men’s team, I haven’t got the equipment. I’m a fully-fledged female. I play in the women’s pool league and there’s no problem.”
Christine is licensee of the White Lion in Leek but played darts for the nearby Fountain pub.
She added: “I feel I am as much a woman as the ladies I was playing against in the the darts team. It’s terrible to be shunned by people I regard as the same gender. I was a woman trapped inside a man’s body until my surgery put me right. I can’t understand why other women were so upset.”
League chairwoman Thelma Ferns said they were in a “difficult position”.
She added: “We need to seek professional advice before we comment further. There are leagues that cater for both men and women but ours is women only.”
President Gary Shenton said: “It’s something completely new in the league’s long history and an issue we may have to consider discussing in this ever-changing world.”
No comments:
Post a Comment