A Self-Identified Woman in a Male Body
"I got every masters record and two unofficial world masters records. I don't care about records. I care about being there with my friends.""I ... didn't touch a barbell in my entire life until seven years ago.""I will win by a good margin. This is due to my training ethic, but people widely misattribute it to my history [as a male] 20 years ago."Trans power-lifter Anne Andres
Anne Andres smashed the women's record during a championship (pictured) |
"[Female competitors dropped out of the Manitoba competition rather than compete against Andres; the Canadian Powerlifting Union was doing] nothing [to address their concerns].""That national record that [Andres] broke; athletes have been chasing that for years. We're talking top athletes who have been training and training and training.""It's bodies that play sports, not identities. Remember, bodies are biology, not identities that play sports.""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."Canadian powerlifter April Hutchinson
April Hutchinson, a powerlifter with the Canadian Powerlifting Union, criticized the decision to allow Andres to compete as being 'completely unfair' |
First
place in the Females Master Unequipped category at the Western Canadian
Powerlifting & Bench Press Championships was handily won by trans
power-lifter Anne Andres in the category featured for female
weightlifters over age 35 who do not make use of supportive equipment
like a squat suit. This is referred to as 'classic', or 'raw'
weightlifting. Andres is 40 years of age. Twenty years spent as a male.
Andres
set the Canadian national record for women's deadlift where a barbell
is hoisted from ground to thigh level. It has been twenty years since
Andres transitioned from male to female. Now he is set to represent
Canada at the World Masters Power-lifting Championships taking place in
October, and has not hesitated to state on social media that he/she is
confident of winning. At the same time spurning suspicion that these
wins cheat women out of hard-fought opportunities.
Sunday's
Manitoba meet represents the tenth time first place has gone to Andres
in a women's powerlifting category. The win spurred a tsunami of outrage
by campaigners against trans athletes competing in women's categories
as manifestly unfair. Women's records no longer represent training and
female sport prowess since records are now being swept up by trans
athletes [men] who identify as women.
Among
those championing women competing in their own sports categories as
opposed to men identifying as women taking their place are tennis icon
Martina Navratilova and American competitive swimmer Riley Gaines. Both
of these elite athletes have campaigned against trans women being
included in women's sports. Riley Gaines identified Andres' win as
evidence of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's "radical disdain for women".
In
an interview, the win prompted a segment on British news channel TalkTV
where powerlifter April Hutchinson pointed out that many female
competitors choose not to compete once they're aware that they will be
doing so against a transwoman. Recently, the Canadian Powerlifting Union
updated their trans-inclusion policy to negate that surgery, hormone
therapy or a doctor's note would be required for trans athletes to
compete in a category consistent with their gender ID.
"Trans
athletes should be able to participate in the gender with which they
identify, regardless of whether or not they have undergone hormone
therapy", reads the new policy. The guidelines now
closely reflect the official trans recommendations developed by the
Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport, a group funded by the federal
government.
Men's
powerlifter Avi Silverberg was so outraged at Andres' participation at a
lifting event in Lethbridge, Alberta, that the veteran Team Canada
coach identified as female for as long as it took to enable him to enter
the competition, shattering the women's bench press record. Andres was
present, witnessed the event, and was decidedly displeased, when the 84+
kilogram category whose record holder is Andres was shattered, calling
Silverberg a 'coward and a bigot', with 'malicious intent'.
Anne Andres, a 40-year-old trans woman, set the all-time record at the
Canadian Powerlifting Union's 2023 Western Canadian Championship Sunday -
lifting a combined 200 kilograms more than the competitor in second
place |
Labels: Male Body Strength, Self-Identified Female, Transwomen, Unfair Competition, Women's Sports Events
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