A smirking 6’2″ Ann Andres stepped onto the podium at the Canadian Powerlifting Union Women’s Regional Championship earlier in August to win the gold medal.
What was so funny, I’ll never know.
But certainly women are treated like a joke.
Andres, a trans person, lifted 1,327 pounds, calculated from the combined weight of three lifts: squat, bench and deadlift, and beat the closest competition at 470 pounds.
The top 20 male competitors lift over 2,000 pounds. If Andres faced them, Andres wouldn’t even make the top 6,000.
But Andres’ deadlift was the second highest in women’s weightlifting history. It was doubly shocking because the athletes who set records in my sport are in their 20s and 30s.
Andres is 40 years old.
And we were friends.
When Andres and I first met online, Andres described himself as a “she-boy.” I didn’t know what that meant.
I was doing powerlifting and Andres was training. We chatted on Facebook. Andres looked like a woman and I didn’t ask any questions. We Canadians are very polite.
It wasn’t until we argued about New Zealand transgender weightlifter Laurel Hubbard’s participation in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics that I learned Andres was a biological male.
Andres transitioned nearly two decades ago, which means Andres has experienced male puberty and is enjoying all the physical benefits that come with it.
A smirking 6’2″ Ann Andres stepped onto the podium at the Canadian Powerlifting Union Women’s Regional Championship earlier in August to win the gold medal.
When Andres and I first met online, Andres described himself as a “she-boy.” I didn’t know what that meant.
I told Andres that I thought a transgender person competing with biological women was cheating. So Andres blocked me.
Since then, Andres has gained an incredible amount of weight and strength, especially for someone who only competed for four years and admittedly hadn’t touched a bar until 2006.
Andres weighed 200 pounds and lifted 314 pounds in 2019. Today, Andres weighs almost 260 pounds and lifts over 500 pounds.
While Andres’ earnings are seemingly impossible in the women’s competition, the numbers would barely register in the men’s division.
But that hasn’t stopped Andres, after only a few years of rising as a “woman,” from taking to social media to make fun of women, to put us down as weak, to rub it in our faces.
‘Why is the women’s bench so bad?’ Andres asked in an Instagram video. “Not compared to me,” Andres admitted, “we all know I’m a trans freak, so that doesn’t count.”
Andres even referred to a rival as “T-Rex’s little arms.”
Could this be why Andres placed a stuffed T-Rex dinosaur on the podium while receiving the goal medal this month?
I know the dedication it takes to become an elite athlete in this sport. It’s a full-time job that requires sacrificing time with family, dates with my boyfriend, giving up alcohol and other indulgences to prioritize sleep, nutrition, and overtime in the gym.
Does it deserve to be ridiculed?
Andres also seems oblivious to the physical struggles that only biological women endure – a menstrual cycle.
Many of us experience terrible pain, bloating, and loss of energy that can easily keep us from working out for a week. This translates into missed comebacks, injuries and missed opportunities.
Women are often told: do not participate. If you refuse to play ball, they will leave.
For those who offer this useless solution, let the record show that quite a few women refused to compete with Andres.
Andres (above) weighed 200 pounds and lifted 314 pounds in 2019. Today, Andres weighs nearly 260 pounds and lifts over 500.
It wasn’t until we argued over New Zealand transgender weightlifter Laurel Hubbard (above) competing in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics that I learned Andres was a biological male.
I was supposed to compete against Andres at the Canadian National Championships in February. I did not introduce myself.
What observers of the Canadian Powerlifting Union (CPU) awards ceremony did not see was that the athletes, who stood alongside Andres on the podium, were the only other competitors. Two others had given up.
More women quit or lost weight in order to qualify for different classes and not lift against Andres. A friend of mine says she suffered a nervous breakdown after her dreams were crushed.
I was supposed to compete against Andres at the Canadian National Championships in February. I did not introduce myself.
When I talked about Andres and wrote the CPU, they ignored me. When I refused to shut up, the CPU threatened me with suspension from the Canadian national team. I have now obtained a lawyer to help me in my legal battle.
None of this made any difference.
Andres was allowed to compete, step onto the podium in place of a biological woman, and set national records that may never be broken.
Everyone knows that’s unethical. But the federation has been too cowardly to do anything because the Canadian government protects “gender identity” from discrimination, alongside race, gender and sexual orientation.
As a result, the rights of biological women are violated.
Women must demand equity, but even that is not enough.
If and hopefully when the CPU comes to its senses, the records of the biological men must be erased.
Only women are entitled to these honors.
