I thought it was a great moment to re-broadcast one of my favorite episodes of Ladies Knight, with French chessplayer, composer and content creator Yosha Iglesias. We originally recorded this episode back in June 2022 but so much has happened since then.  First of all, just a month after this podcast originally dropped, the French Federation adopted a inclusive transgender policy in July of 2022 at which point Yosha tweeted:

I can't hold tears as I think how different my life would have been if, as a teenager, I had not believed that this day would never come.

But tonight is not a time for regrets but for celebration and gratitude.

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Since then, she went on to become vice women’s champion in both the Rapid and Blitz French Women’s Championship. This month,   along with other top French female players, Yosha penned an open letter to raise awareness on harassment and abuse in chess. It ended up getting over 100 signatures and making global news headlines.

 She has also been vocal about FIDE’s new restrictive policy against transgender players, which of course conflicts with her own federation’s policy, and ours as well.

I was on CNN to discuss this issue, and it’s my opinion that greater care would be taken in making such policies if more people truly understood the difficulties transgender players face in and outside of the game. This is a human issue as much as it is a policy issue.  

 That’s why I think it’s a great time rebroadcast this one. Enjoy–and be sure to follow Yosha’s progress and activities on her twitter and YouTube feeds.