A female weightlifter has criticised what she calls a “two-tier system” that “favours” transgender athletes after her suspension doubled that of a competitor who was born male.
April Hutchinson was hit with a two-year suspension by the Canadian Powerlifting Union after appearing on Piers Morgan Uncensored last year when she commented on the “physical advantages a man has over a woman.”
In her comments she specifically named transgender weightlifter Anne Andres, who set an unofficial women’s world record last year.
After hiring an attorney and appealing his suspension through a third-party agency, Hutchinson was eventually able to get his suspension reduced to one year.
But Andres – who has been accused of bullying, discrimination, harassment and racist behaviour for comparing himself to ethnic minorities, as well as “wishing death” on at least one other weightlifter – was suspended for just six months.
Weightlifter April Hutchison (pictured) has been suspended by her union for a year for publicly criticising a transgender woman’s participation in a women’s competition.
Hutchinson now says the discrepancy between the two punishments is evidence of a “two-tiered system, almost like favoritism, of how transgender individuals are treated compared to a woman who is simply fighting for justice in the women’s category.”
“Bear in mind that I was asking for a separate category all along,” Hutchinson told DailyMail.com, noting that she “couldn’t even write all the material that Anne wrote.”
In one instance, Andres posted about a law passed in Alberta banning transgender women from competing in women’s sports and attacked Alberta Premier Danielle Smith as well as people who supported the legislation, prompting others to call the police, Hutchinson said.
“May your generation die painfully and leave the youth inheriting a better world,” Andrés said in the post.
‘The same damn arguments against trans inclusion have historically been used against black inclusion.’
One person who filed a complaint against Andrés said that “as a black woman,” comparisons to Andrés make her feel uncomfortable and unsafe.
Anne Andres, who has been accused of harassment, discrimination, bullying and racist behaviour for comparing herself to ethnic minorities, as well as “wishing death” on at least one other weightlifter, was suspended for just six months.
Andrés allegedly posted about a law passed in Alberta banning transgender women from competing in women’s sports and attacked Alberta Premier Danielle Smith (pictured).
Andrés also allegedly harassed female athletes who did not want to compete against biological men by criticizing them on social media.
The allegations go on to say that Andres accused the Alberta Powerlifting Union of requesting his medical records and wanting to look at children’s genitals, which the union denies.
She also allegedly accused members of the Canadian Powerlifting Union of “profiting from hate” and wished death on some of its members.
The union eventually filed its own complaints against Andres, Hutchinson said, while accusing his opponent of wanting to “touch people at volunteer events.”
She now says that Andres’ punishment for the alleged behavior “pales in comparison to what I faced” for fighting “for justice in the women’s category.”
The transgender athlete currently holds multiple weightlifting records in the women’s division.
Hutchinson has argued that having Andrés compete against biological women creates an uneven playing field in his sport.
Andrés currently holds multiple powerlifting records in the women’s division and in 2023, she competed at the 2023 Canadian Powerlifting Union Western Canada Championships.
Her total weightlifting score was 597.5kg (the sum total of the heaviest weight lifted in the squat, bench press and deadlift). This was more than 200kg more than her closest competitor, SuJan Gill, with 387.5kg.
Following Andres’ victory, Hutchinson shared her frustration in an impassioned op-ed for DailyMail.com where she pleaded for fairness in the sport and criticised Andres for mocking his female rivals by calling them “weak”.
She claimed that Andrés was “using social media to mock women, to belittle us as weak, to rub it in our faces.”
At one point, Andrés even characterized a female rival as having “little T-Rex arms.”
Hutchinson also said that when Andres won another contest, seeing her place a stuffed T-Rex on the podium felt particularly meaningful, especially since she noticed that the only two others on the podium were only there because all the other competitors had dropped out.
‘Andrés was taking away places on the podium and basically setting records, that shouldn’t be the case,’ Hutchinson argued last year.
Andrés mocked his female rivals by calling them “weak,” Hutchinson said.
“Women are simply not given a fair chance in sport, there is no level playing field. Why spend money on federations or on a sport when you are destined to fail or lose, when there are so many physical advantages that a man has?
“There’s a reason men’s sports have male and female categories. We deserve fair sports and to have men in our sport. I mean, it’s not fair.”
“There’s a reason the Paralympics exist: there are different categories: men, women, weight classes,” Hutchinson said at the time.
Now she says that if nothing is done to prevent biological male athletes from competing against female athletes, “basically the women’s category will be erased.”
“Men will continue to dominate the women’s category, and when I say dominate, I don’t just mean winning medals, I mean taking away scholarships from women, prize money – there are many different ways,” Hutchinson said.
To prevent this, she recommends that female athletes boycott competitions against transgender women.
She pointed out that she herself has refused to compete against Andrés, even though she entered the national competition.
Instead, Hutchinson said she organized a protest that was eventually joined by 16 other female athletes.
“I think it’s good for women to come together,” she said.
Hutchinson has argued that having transgender athletes compete against biological women creates an uneven playing field.
But, she said, it shouldn’t always be women’s responsibility to stand up for themselves.
“These policymakers should step up their efforts to protect women,” Hutchinson said, referring to the leaders of the federations that govern sports in each country.
If they don’t, Hutchinson suggested that female athletes start suing federations.
“Women need to unite, they need to demand and they need to boycott,” she said.
‘I think my main message is that women need to stop following that trend.’
If a female athlete cannot withdraw or boycott an event, Hutchinson said she should “try to reach out to the federation and become a policy maker.”
“Use your voice, try to be an advocate,” he urged.
“If they can get together, talk to other female athletes, reach out to me, reach out to Riley Gaines. There are people out there.”
She says she will continue to support biologically female athletes and has no regrets about speaking out, even with the suspension.
She says she will continue to be there for other female athletes and says she doesn’t regret speaking out, even with the suspension.
“If I was banned for 10 years, I wouldn’t care because it was worth it. I would do it all again in a heartbeat,” Hutchinson told DailyMail.com.
She described championing female athletes as “honestly one of the best things I’ve ever done” and noted that she will be able to lift weights again in November.
(tags to translate)dailymail
