Bethany Hamilton Says She Will Boycott World Surf League Over Its Transgender Policy

Bethany Hamilton said she will boycott the World Surf League after it passed a policy allowing transgender people to compete. (Photo by Matt Dunbar/WSL via Getty Images)

Pro surfer Bethany Hamilton announced Sunday that she would be boycotting the World Surf League for adopting the International Surfing Association’s transgender policy.

The 32-year-old surfer, who rose to prominence as a teenager when a shark attack claimed her left arm, does not support transgender women who are eligible to compete on WSL’s women’s circuits. She made her announcement via an Instagram video while questioning the league’s policy of considering testosterone levels for eligibility.

“Is a hormone level an honest and accurate representation that someone is actually a man or a woman?” Hamilton asked amid a series of questions. “Is it that easy?”

She ended her video by announcing her boycott.

“Personally, I will not participate in or support the World Surf League if this rule remains in place,” Hamilton said.

There are currently no openly transgender athletes competing in the WSL.

The WSL responded on Monday with a statement explaining its rules, which are intended to be modeled on those used in Olympic competition.

“As an Olympic sport and in an effort to include all of WSL’s disciplines in the Olympics, WSL has adopted the International Surfing Association’s (ISA) policy on transgender participation,” the statement said.

“WSL works to balance equity and fairness and we will continue to evaluate the policy over the coming months and years as more research, information and feedback becomes available.”

WSL cites the ISA’s policy of considering countable testosterone levels over a 12-month period as a reason for attending a women’s event:

“An athlete assigned at birth to a male who identifies as female and has female/female in his passport or ID card is eligible to compete in a men’s event, or as a man in a mixed event if he has not done so has met requirements to compete in women (eg, maintaining testosterone levels less than 5 nmol/L continuously for the past 12 months)

Hamilton questioned the ISA testosterone standard in her video.

“How did whoever set these hormonal rules come to the conclusion that 12 months of testosterone testing was a fair and legal switch?” asked Hamilton.

The issue of transgender athletes competing in sports — particularly transgender women competing in women’s events — has become a focal point in American and international sports and politics. Several Republican-controlled states have either proposed or enacted bans on transgender athletes competing at the high school or college level, often invoking equality on the field. Opponents of the bills characterize them as anti-LGBTQ legislation.

Hamilton is a devout Christian who credits her faith as an inspiration in her recovery from the shark attack she experienced when she was 13. Since her attack, she has continued her career as a professional surfer, which includes a long-term sponsorship deal with Rip Curl.

According to her WSL bio, Hamilton has competed in the WSL since 2008, most recently in the 2022 season where she placed 20th on the Women’s Championship Tour. Hamilton said in her video that she would like to see the WSL create a department specifically for transgender athletes.

“Personally, I think the best solution would be to create another division so that everyone has a fair opportunity to show their passion and talent,” Hamilton said.

According to industry publication The Intertia, Sarah Jane Lowerson became the first openly transgender surfer to enter and win an established surfing competition in 2022. Lowerson spoke about her experience after winning the West Coast Suspensions Longboard & Logger State Championships in Australia last May.

“I’ve been surfing since I was a little boy, I was a good junior surfer, I was surfing adult men at 14 and I was winning,” Lowerson told Newsweek. “I knew from a very young age that I was not a normal boy. Mostly [my life]I thought [Sasha] could never live, I had to put her in a box. Lots of girls experience that.

“About every two years I would want to kill myself and I tried well. I had a real wake up call [2020] then I thought, ‘What are you doing? You’re living a lie.’”

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