Pro Surfer Bethany Hamilton Boycotts Trans-Inclusive Surfing Event

The pressure to define a policy for transgender surfers intensified after Sasha Jane Lowerson became the first openly trans woman to win the women’s open in Australia in May 2022.

“Unfortunately, when a trans athlete is successful a lot of people want to jump up and down. But there are also a lot of people that want to celebrate it, which is a positive thing,” Lowerson told the Inertia magazine after her victory. 

Inertia also reported last week that WSL Chief of Sport Jessi Miley-Dyer and Chief Medical Officer Allan MacKillop came to the policy decision together. 

“The WSL will not test transgender athletes [for testosterone levels] ourselves,” Miley-Dyer said. “Athletes will arrange their own testing, then come to our chief medical officer to have a confidential conversation and show medical documentation.” 

Many Olympic sports do not currently have an official policy regarding hormone levels. The International Cycling Union requires transgender women athletes to test below 2.5 nanomoles per liter for two years to be eligible, which is considered an average range for cisgender women. 

Yet across the US, numerous state legislatures are pushing bills that would restrict the access of trans youth from participating on the sports team that aligns with their gender identity.

Hamilton proposed that the WSL create a separate division for trans athletes altogether — and she isn’t alone. After Surfing Australia, a part of the International Surfing Association, shared guidance that was inclusive of transgender surfers, pro surfer Kelly Slater and others called for a “trans division.”