Thursday marked the 50-year anniversary of Title IX, the federal civil rights law enacted in 1972 that prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or education program that receives federal funding. I spoke with many female athletes who have competed against biological male “transgender” athletes, which came to light due to swimmer Will “Lia” Thomas earlier this year. And, over the weekend, a biological male transgender athlete made headlines yet again for beating female competitors.
A 29-year-old biological male transgender skateboarder reportedly beat a 13-year-old girl to take home first prize in a skateboarding competition in New York City over the weekend.
The New York Post noted that the transgender skateboarder was also the oldest in the competition.
Ricci Tres, from Los Angeles, who was born a man but now identifies as a woman, won the women’s division of the Boardr Open street skateboarding competition and a $500 prize, with 13-year-old Shiloh Catori, from Florida, coming in second and taking a $250 prize.
Four of the six finalists were under the age of 17, with the youngest being 10-year-old Juri Iikura, who came in fifth. At 29, Tres was the oldest contestant.
Tres is 838 in the Boardr Global Rankings, compared to Catori’s 133 ranking.
Competitive skateboarder Taylor Silverman, who also competed and lost to a biological male last month, shared a post to Instagram where she voiced her thoughts on the situation.
“Male wins women’s finals and money at Boardr Open NYC presented by DC today. My story is not unique in skateboarding. My story is not unique in sports in general,” Silverman wrote.
I interviewed Silverman last Thursday in Washington, D.C. on the 50th anniversary of Title IX. At the “Our Bodies Our Sports” rally, she told me she’s competed against “transgender-identifying” male athletes a few different occasions.
In May, Silverman competed and lost in a competition against a biological male, who ended up taking home $5,000 in prize money. When she reached out to Red Bull, who put on the competition, the company did not respond to her.
"I posted what happened on social media and my story went viral on the internet," she told me. "I really just want to raise awareness because I don't want this to impact more girls."
In Silverman’s Instagram post, she shared that she placed second in the competition and went home with nothing.
“I deserved to place first, to be acknowledged for my win, and get paid,” she wrote. “I am sick of being bullied into science.”
Other athletes at the rally shared their similar experiences with me.
Madison Kenyon, a student-athlete at Idaho State University, told Townhall that she raced against a biological male athlete who identifies as a female five times. She told me how, as a freshman, she went into her first race against this individual with an "open mind" because the athlete had taken testosterone suppression.
"They didn't only beat me, but they beat hundreds of other athletes," Kenyon explained. "It really hit me on the podium when my team and I were watching the awards and this athlete was up there. It didn't look like a girl on the podium. It looked like a man standing on a podium with girls."
At the rally, former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard issued remarks about transgender athletes competing in women's sports.
"There are biological and physiological differences between men and women," Gabbard said in her remarks. "This is the height of disrespect, offense, and what at its core is a hatred for women."
"If a man can become a woman simply by declaring it to be so, then there is nothing that is real. There is nothing that is true. Anything can go," she added.
"We've seen 50 years of progress since Title IX. But, the future of Title IX, the opportunities that have come about because of it, are at peril because of the actions and policies coming from the Biden administration and Congress' failure to act thus far to protect women and girls in sports," she continued.
"It is for them that we take a stand for the truth. It is for them that we take a stand together, as Americans, express this call to action to everyone across the country to demand that Congress and the president take immediate action to uphold the original intent of Title IX and protect the lives, futures, and wellbeing of women everywhere."
