Several female boxers are speaking out against USA Boxing’s recent rules announcement for transgender athletes that allow biological males who have transitioned to females to compete against biological females.
World champion boxers Ebanie Bridges and Amanda Serrano were among those who took issue with the rules and voiced their opposition through social media.
“This is wrong on so many levels,” Bridges wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “I will never agree to this… it’s bad enough having trans women breaking records in other sports like track and field, swimming, and power lifting, but it’s a bit different to them breaking our skulls in combat sports where the aim is to HURT YOU, not just break a record…however I think it’s wrong in ALL SPORT… I have nothing against trans but can’t be skewing the line in sport…. You don’t see reference or debates for transmen in sport… cos it’s not a threat…”
“It ain’t just about the test levels what about their bone density and a heap of other biological factors,” she continued. “Cutting ur bits off and adding boobs won’t take back the masculine maturity your body has gone thru before you decided u are now a woman.”
“Make it make sense! Women who were born women can’t compete against women under the same rules as men, according to the WBC….BUT men can identify as a woman, transition and then fight us women?” Serrano added. “All I want is equal opportunity for all. Our bodies. Our decision.”
According to Fox News, the current USA boxing policy allows biological males to compete as females under the following circumstances:
— They identify as a female and have completed gender reassignment surgery
–They have undergone quarterly hormone testing and presented documentation of their hormone levels for at least four years.
— Their testosterone levels are below five nanomoles per liter 48 months before their first fight and remain below that level.
Violations of this policy result in a 12-month suspension.
Many Olympic sports have had to address issues with the participation of transgender athletes, and the International Olympic Committee just announced new guidelines regarding such athletes at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Bridges believes there is another way to solve the debate: create another classification strictly for transgender athletes to compete against each other.
“I don’t care about ‘political correctness’ it’s politically incorrect to have a man fighting a woman,” she wrote. “… and idc that’s exactly what it is… this society is too soft.. this is our health and safety. The girls need to stick together or women’s sport in 50 years will be filled with male-born champions.”
USA Boxing has not issued a response to the backlash.
