By WILL POTTER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
A Canadian female powerlifter is set to be suspended from the sport for two years after slamming a transgender record-breaking rival as a ‘trans identifying male.’
April Hutchinson is facing a lengthy ban from powerlifting for her remarks on competitor Anne Andres, a transgender woman who sparked backlash after destroying the Canadian women’s national record in August.
Following Andres’ dominant display, where she beat her nearest challenger by over 200 kilograms in total, Hutchinson appeared on TalkTV‘s Piers Morgan Uncensored to condemn the victory as unfair.
‘It’s been very disheartening, that national record that he broke athletes have been chasing that for years,’ she said. ‘It just goes to show the physical advantages that a male has over a female.’
In response, the Canadian Powerlifting Union says it has recommended that Hutchinson be suspended for two years, which she said was for ‘speaking publicly about the unfairness of biological males being allowed to taunt female competitors and loot their winnings.’
Powerlifter April Hutchinson is set to be suspended from powerlifting after her fiery appearance on TalkTV in August (pictured), where she lamented ‘the physical advantages that a male has over a female’
Hutchinson said she was quickly threatened with suspension as soon as she criticized Canadian powerlifting’s ‘lenient’ stance on transgender athletes, adding that ‘we have no policy at all to protect women and girls in sports’
Transgender athlete Anne Andres was criticized for remarks she made earlier this year about her female competitors, who she said were ‘so bad’ at bench press – she described one as having ‘little T-Rex arms’
Hutchinson began powerlifting four years ago, and says she started her campaigning against transgender athletes’ inclusion in biological female categories around a year ago.
Despite being warned almost immediately she would be banned for her stance, she said she continued speaking out for the past year because, essentially, ‘we have no policy at all to protect women and girls in sports.’
‘Canada is very lenient with policies,’ she explained. ‘You do not need any proof, my boyfriend could basically walk in tomorrow, identify as a female and compete, and the next day go back to being a man again.’
Hutchinson noted the example of Avi Silverberg, a male powerlifting coach who protested Canada’s lenient self-ID rules by entering a competition as a woman before smashing a bench press record in April.
‘I will keep speaking out about fairness, because women deserve that. It’s completely unfair, it’s bodies that play sports not identities,’ she continued, adding that many biological women she knows who regularly compete in powerlifting will withdraw when they see Andres’ name against them.
After slating the transgender athlete on TV, Hutchinson became the focus of an ethics investigation by the governing body, which she tweeted the results of on Tuesday.
‘I now face a two-year ban by the CPU for speaking publicly about the unfairness of biological males being allowed to taunt female competitors and loot their winnings,’ Hutchinson said.
‘Apparently, I have failed in my gender-role duties as “supporting actress” in the horror show that is my #sport right now.
‘This… Even though a 13-page letter was sent to the CPU in October thoroughly debunking all accusations. Obviously, someone had to pay the price for the IPF forcing CPU to be more female-friendly.
‘Let this be a lesson to all female athletes to shut-up and put-up with #SexDiscrimination. In truth, my fight does not stop here.’
Andres sparked backlash in August when she captured the Canadian women’s national record, beating out her nearest competitor by over 200kg in total
Alongside her habit of breaking records, Andres previously faced backlash in the powerlifting community for appearing to mock female competitors and asking why they are ‘so bad’ at bench pressing in comparison.
In a viral social media video, Andres began: ‘Why is women’s bench press so bad?
‘I mean not compared to me, we all know that I’m a tranny freak so that doesn’t count… I mean standard bench for women in competition, I literally don’t understand why it’s so bad.’
She noted that her young son was able to almost lift as much as her competitors as proof of why they should be doing better, adding ‘I just don’t understand.’
Andres even characterized a female rival as having ‘little T-Rex arms’.
Hutchinson wrote in DailyMail.com in August that she was ‘taking to social media to mock females, to belittle us as weak, to rub it in our faces.’
She said that when Andres won another contest, watching her put a stuffed toy T-Rex on the podium appeared particularly pointed – especially as she noted that the only two others on the podium were only there as every other competitor had dropped out.
Ann Andres pictured stepped on the podium at the Canadian Powerlifting Union’s women’s regional championship earlier this August when she claimed the gold medal
Hutchinson said she was threatened with a suspension when she complained too, but said she won’t stop her campaigning.
‘Andres has been allowed to compete, take the podium in place of a biological woman and set national records that may never be broken,’ she concluded.
‘Everyone knows this is 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 trampled.
‘Women must demand fairness, but even that is not enough.
‘If and, hopefully, when the CPU comes to its senses, the records of biological men must be wiped away.
‘Only women are entitled to these honors.’
Andres has been competing in female competition for over four years, however the issue of transgender inclusion in sports was thrust into the spotlight when trans swimmer Lia Thomas became an NCAA champion in March 2022.
In April, Champion cyclist Hannah Arensman announced her retirement from professional cycling after being beaten out to a podium place by Austin Killips, a transgender athlete
Debate has raged ever since, but it was initially raised as a point of contention after the emergence of Cece Telfer – who became the first openly trans woman to win an NCAA title when she placed first in the 400m hurdles at the Division II National Championships in 2019.
The following year, Laurel Hubbard, from New Zealand, became the first openly transgender woman to compete at the Olympics when she took part in weightlifting at the Tokyo games.
In April, champion cyclist Hannah Arensman heartbreakingly announced the end of her dream of competing in the Olympics after losing to a biological male, saying their inclusion meant she would ‘lose no matter how hard I train.’
Tommy Lundberg, a lecturer in physiology at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute and leading researcher on the subject, told DailyMail.com in March: ‘The most important thing is whether or not you have benefited from male development and male puberty and if you’ve done that, you’re going to have advantages you cannot undo later.’
Laurel Hubbard became the first openly transgender woman to compete at the Olympics in 2020
Cece Telfer became the first openly trans woman to win an NCAA title when she placed first in the 400m hurdles at the Division II National Championships in 2019 (pictured)
This view was also shared by Nancy Hogshead, a former pro swimmer who won three gold medals and one silver at the 1984 Olympics, who told DailyMail.com: ‘Trans women have an undeniable physical advantage.
‘Their bodies do what male bodies do when they go through puberty and is the reason why we segregate sports ubiquitously around the world.
‘Unless we’re talking about just playing, just recreational sports. All competitive sports is sex-segregated.’
Notably, trans figurehead Caitlyn Jenner, who won gold in the male decathlon at the 1976 Olympics before becoming one of the world’s best-known trans women, has also called Thomas’s success ‘anathema to what sports represents and the spirit of competition’.