A professional female surfer is boycotting the World Surf League (WSL) events because of a new policy allowing transgender competitors.. Bethany Hamilton Surfing .Bethany Hamilton said allowing trans women in women’s events will lead to “male-bodied dominance” in surfing..Hamilton shared two videos on Instagram that said other pro female surfers are “ostracized” for sharing the same opinion of trans women competitors..The WSL is adopting the International Surfing Association’s (ISA) transgender policy, in which transgender athletes in the women’s division have a testosterone level of fewer than five nanomoles per litre (nmol/L) for the previous 12 months..In the videos, Hamilton questioned the ISA’s transgender policy..“Is a hormone level an honest and accurate depiction that someone indeed is a male or female? Is it as simple as this?” asked Hamilton..“Am I just a hormone number? Is it as simple as that?”.Hamilton discussed “male-bodied dominance” in other “women’s sports like running, swimming, and others.”.One suggestion from Hamilton for trans women is to create their own division, just for trans women “so that all can have a fair opportunity.”.Hamilton’s “Soul Surfer” memoir recounts a 2003 shark attack where she lost her left arm and returned to the sport of surfing..The first openly trans woman to win a surfing contest was Sasha Jane Lowerson in May 2022, when she won the women’s open in Australia, which required the WSL to create a trans women competitor policy.. Riley Gaines .Trans women athletes competing in women’s sports have been in the news over the last year with NCAA swimmer Lia Thomas and trans runner CeCe Telfer..READ MORE Swimmer claims Lia Thomas 'dropped her pants' and exposed 'male genitalia' in change room.Earlier this week, former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines claimed Thomas “dropped her pants” and walked around the women’s locker room with exposed “male genitalia” at a swimming competition in 2022..Gaines accused the NCAA of encouraging trans women competitors and nominated Thomas for NCAA Woman of the Year..“The NCAA then nominated Thomas for NCAA Woman of the Year, so we [they] are celebrating this movement,” said Gaines..“This is not something that happened by chance on a one-off basis. They are encouraging [biological] men to compete in women’s sports.”
