A professional female powerlifter announced she is facing a two-year suspension after making remarks about transgender athletes in the sport.
“‘BREAKING: I now face a 2-year ban by the CPU for speaking publicly about the unfairness of biological males being allowed to taunt female competitors & loot their winnings,” professional powerlifter for Canada, April Hutchinson, wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Apparently, I have failed in my gender-role duties as ‘supporting actress’ in the horror show that is my #sport right now.”
The post from Hutchinson included screenshots of the letter she reportedly received from the Canadian Powerlifting Union, which states that it’s an official complaint “regarding AH’s conduct on social media.”
“Upon discussing the current case, the panel had determined that there was sufficient evidence to support sanctions as a result of multiple violations of both Code of Conduct and the Social Media policy. It has been determined that there is sufficient evidence for Major Infraction as a result of repeating offences, including prior warnings,” the letter shared by Hutchinson says.
Newsweek reached out to Hutchinson via social media direct message and the CPU via email for comment.
Hutchinson’s post comes shortly after she said during an interview with Piers Morgan that powerlifting is a “pure strength sport,” where males have a “60 to 70 percent advantage over females.”
She went on to speak about Anne Andres, a transgender woman who previously set a powerlifting record at the 2023 Western Canadian Championship.
“Two weeks ago, I received a letter from my Federation, stating that I cannot call Anne a biological male,” Hutchinson said while appearing on Piers Morgan Uncensored last month. “The whole thing is disgusting. It’s disgraceful.”
In August, the International Powerlifting Federation announced a policy change for transgender athletes saying that “he/she must declare before competing that he/she is a transgender athlete.”
“If an athlete fails to declare that he/she is a transgender and competes that violation leads to Disqualification of the result obtained in that Competition with all resulting Consequences, including forfeiture of any medals, points and prizes,” the IPF said.
Guillermo Legaria/Getty Images
Earlier this month, the CPU shared a document for IPF rule changes in 2024 which included a line that said “Competition takes place between lifters in categories defined by sex, body weight and age.”
Prior to the policy change, Hutchinson spoke with TalkTV in the United Kingdom and said, “My boyfriend could basically walk in tomorrow, identify as 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 it.”
In addition to powerlifting, there has been ongoing arguments in other sports regarding the inclusion of transgender women in female categories. Former college swimmer Riley Gaines has been vocal in her opposition to allowing transgender women from competing in female sports categories.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.