OAN’s James Meyers
6:30 PM – Monday, August 21, 2023
Due to recent wins that showed how biological males have an unrivaled advantage in strength, transgender athletes who identify as women may soon be barred from competing against biological female competitors in powerlifting competitions.
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Anne Andres, a biological male who identifies as female that competed in the women’s division of the Canadian Powerlifting Union’s Western Canadian Championship, beat the closest 2nd place competitor SuJan Gill by lifting a whopping 400 more pounds than she was able to.
The International Consortium on Female Sports (ICFS) was especially critical of the dominating performance by Andres.
“This is not a legitimate Canadian National Record. This is a mediocre lift by a mediocre male who is being allowed to lift against women,” the group tweeted in a statement on Monday. “This is discrimination against the female competitors.”
The current rules by the International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) stated that competitors must prove their gender identity by showing their government issued ID and being tested for testosterone levels.
April Hutchinson, who is a competitive female powerlifter, told Talk TV that many biological female powerlifters do not agree with the inclusion of transgender women in their sport and that it is simply not fair.
“My boyfriend could basically walk in tomorrow, identify as a female, compete, and then the next day, go back to being a man again. No proof, no ID required, just basically going on how you feel that day or whatever gender you want to do it,” she said.
The trans inclusion policy of the Canadian Powerlifting Union (CPU) states: “both at recreational and competitive levels, an individual may participate in their expressed and identified gender category.”
Despite recent criticism of the policy from multiple female powerlifters, in May, the CPU stood firm on their policy after a five-month review.
The transgender powerlifter has also been known for being critical of the competition in general. Andres asserted in a video last year that he does not understand why the women’s bench press is poor competition.
“I will win by a good margin. This is due to my training ethic, but people widely misattribute it to my history 20 years ago,” the transgender powerlifter said, referring to the upcoming championships in October.
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