Professional longboarder and transgender woman Sasha Lowerson was featured in the promotion for women’s surfing last week, as well as being featured in an Instagram post as part of Rip Curl’s ‘Meet The Local Heroes of Western Australia’ campaign.
The posts have since been deleted after backlash, with the hashtag #StopReplacingWomen used to call for a boycott of the surfing and clothing company.
The move to include Lowerson in promotional material comes months after world-renowned professional surfer and shark attack survivor Bethany Hamilton was dropped by the brand, reportedly over her opposition to transgender athletes competing in women’s sport.
On Tuesday, Hamilton tweeted, ‘Male-bodied athletes should not be competing in female sports. Period’.
The International Surfing Association adopted its current policy on transgender athletes in early 2023.
“Eligibility criteria applying to transgender (trans) people and/or people with sex variations must be evidence-based, rights-respecting, and developed on a sport-by-sport basis,” it says.
Athletes born biological males must maintain a set standard of testosterone levels for 12 months to be able to compete in women’s events.
