Transgender athlete Glenique Frank from Daventry campaigns for ‘true equality’ after running London Marathon in female category

A transgender runner from Daventry advocates for ‘true equality’ after backlash from Mara Yamauchi and the running community for participating in the London Marathon under the female category.

Glenique Frank, a 54-year-old transgender woman from Daventry, was interviewed by BBC upon completing her 17th consecutive London Marathon on Sunday, April 23.

She crossed the finish line in 6,160th place out of 20,123 female competitors.

The runner sparked both admiration and condemnation from the community after being briefly interviewed.

“I feel so sad I’ve upset over 14,000 women and men as I did not want this to happen.

“My mental health has been affected. I’ve had a breakdown and had to cancel everything since the story broke. It’s not a good thing to see so many people around the world hate me now,” said Glenique.

Glenique ran in the London Marathon to raise money for Whizz-Kidz's vital services for young wheelchair users. She enjoyed “raising money for all the different charities over the past 17 years”.

Mara Yamauchi, a former Olympian, criticised Glenique in a series of tweets for participating in the female category.

A ban on transgender athletes “who have gone through male puberty” competing in female categories was announced by World Athletics on March 31. It was clarified that all entries made before that date would not be affected by this restriction.

The World Athletics' previous regulation required transgender women to lower their testosterone level to five nmol/L and maintain it for 12 months before competing in the female category.

Mara told the Daventry Express that Glenique would have signed up last October and would have had to comply with the previous rules to be allowed to enter the female category.

Hugh Brasher, the TCS London Marathon's event director, said to The Post that the London Marathon was "an event that champions inclusivity" in order to show support for Glenique. According to Brasher, World Athletics rules only apply to elite and championship participants, which Glenique is not.

“I will participate in the London Marathon in the future knowing that I will be supported by the race directors and the public that supports the charity runners,” said Glenique.

Glenique participated in the Tokyo Marathon in the female category on March 5 and the New York Marathon last November in the male category. She said she ran in the recent London and Tokyo Marathons as a female because “there is no category for transgender people”.

“I was naive and I made a mistake. Yes, I didn’t read the rules. I admit fault. The organising bodies should highlight that in the future. I don’t mind having my T levels checked,” said Glenique.

“I know who I am and I don’t want to hurt people’s feelings.

“I haven’t had surgery, I haven’t changed my name. But every morning I do have to look at myself and get a bit of dysphoria because I see a man,” said Glenique.

She is planning to compete in every major world marathon including Chicago and Berlin next Autumn. Glenique said she will adhere to the rules in the future if she participates.

“It’s not fair. The Government needs to change the ruling because the UK is very homophobic when it comes to the LGBTQ+ community,” said Glenique.

Mara explained that she is not opposed to transgender people as she believes that everyone “should be fully welcomed and included in sports”.

“This is about the categories. It’s unfair,” said Mara.

Mara shared with the Daventry Express a proposal to keep the female category and rename the male category as “open” because “the female category is what must be protected”, otherwise “females would be absent from sport”. She, later on, said on Piers Morgan Uncensored that “we must have sex-based categories, male and females”.

Glenique advocates for "true equality" and wants to defend "all genders and sexes" in the future. According to her, categories for transgender people should be introduced and "the world of sport needs to now look at having separate sporting events".

“I’m transitioning. So, yes, I’m still biologically a man. Next year I will have gender reassignment surgery and will be a transgender woman. I will also be paying for surgery as I don’t want to be a burden on NHS.

“I apologise to the LGBTQ+ community. The next marathon I enter, I will enter under ‘non-binary’ or ‘other’ although I’m a transgender female,” said Glenique.