An adult biological male who identifies as a woman edged out a 13-year-old girl to take first place in a women’s skateboarding contest held in New York Saturday, the feminist site Reduxx reported.
“Male wins women’s skateboarding finals and money at the Boarder Open NYC presented by DC today,” tweeted Taylor Silverman, a professional skateboarder who has been critical of biological males competing in the sport.
Last year, Tres became the first trans woman to attempt to quality for Olympic Women’s skateboarding, submitting a virtual run for the USA National Skateboarding Championships. But the biological testosterone reportedly tested too high to allow entry as a female under International Olympic Committee (IOC) standards.
“I will never think that a 29 year old male competing in the female competition and taking first place away from a 13 year old girl is “stunning & brave”, and I judge those who think it is,” tweeted Sall Grover.
Silverman recently posted a statement to her Instagram calling out another professional skateboarding event, held in May, for allowing a biological male to compete against women. She finished second to the biological male in that Red Bull-sponsored event, missing out on as much as $5,000 in prize money.
“‘I deserved to place first, be acknowledged for my win, and get paid,’” Silverman wrote, adding the text of an email she sent to Red Bull’s Senior Sports Marketing Manager, Erich Dummer.
Although Silverman has been assailed online for her stance against trans athletes being permitted to compete against biological females in the sport, she has also garnered widespread support.
“Males in skateboarding have higher centers of gravity granting advantages that cannot be removed with [hormone replacement therapy],” Pool wrote in an online defense of Silverman.
According to a recent Gallup Poll, nearly two-thirds of Americans believe athletes should compete against people of the same biological sex. The issue came to the fore when University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas, a biological male, and a men’s competitor as recently as 2021, began competing as a female and won an NCAA championship.