A female powerlifter has criticised what she calls a “two-tier system” that “favors” transgender athletes after her suspension was double that of an athlete born male.
April Hutchinson was given a two-year ban by the Canadian Powerlifting Union after appearing on Piers Morgan Uncensored last year, in which she made comments about the “physical advantages a man has over a woman.”
In her speech, she specifically mentioned transgender powerlifter Anne Andres, who set an unofficial women’s world record last year.
After hiring an attorney and appealing her suspension through an outside agency, Hutchinson was ultimately able to have her suspension reduced to one year.
But Andres, who was accused of bullying, discrimination, intimidation and racist behaviour for comparing herself to ethnic minorities and for “wishing death” on at least one other powerlifter, was suspended for only six months.
Powerlifter April Hutchison (pictured) was suspended for a year by the union after publicly criticizing a transgender woman’s participation in a women’s competition
Hutchinson now says the difference between the two sentences is evidence of a “two-tier system, almost like favoritism, of how transgender people are treated compared to a woman who is just fighting for fairness in the female category.”
“Mind you, I was just asking for a separate category the whole time,” Hutchinson told DailyMail.com, noting that she “couldn’t even type out all the material that Anne did.”
For example, Andres posted about a law passed in Alberta that bans transgender people from participating in women’s sports. He also attacked Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and people who supported the legislation, causing others to call the police, Hutchinson said.
“May your generation die a painful death and leave a better world for the youth,” Andres wrote in the post.
‘The same f***ing arguments against trans inclusion are [sic] has historically been used against the inclusion of black people.’
One person who filed a complaint against Andres said comparisons to Andres made her feel uncomfortable and unsafe “as a black woman.”
Anne Andres, who was accused of bullying, discrimination, intimidation and racist behaviour for comparing herself to ethnic minorities and wishing death on at least one other powerlifter, was suspended for just six months
Andres allegedly posted about a law passed in Alberta that bans transgender people from participating in women’s sports, and attacked Alberta Premier Danielle Smith (pictured).
Andres is also said to have harassed female athletes who did not want to compete against biological males by smearing them on social media.
The complaints continue to state that Andres accuses the Alberta Powerlifting Union of requesting her medical records and looking at her children’s genitals, allegations the union denies.
She also accused female members of the Canadian Powerlifting Union of “profiting from hate” and wished for the death of some members.
The union eventually filed a grievance against Andres, Hutchinson said, accusing her opponent of “trying to touch people at volunteer events.”
She now says the punishment Andres received for the alleged behavior “pales in comparison to what I had to endure” when “fighting for fairness in the women’s category.”
The transgender athlete currently holds multiple powerlifting records in the women’s division
Hutchinson claims that the fact that Andres is competing against biological women creates an uneven playing field in her sport.
Andres currently holds multiple women’s powerlifting records and competed in the 2023 Canadian Powerlifting Union Western Canadian Championship.
Her total powerlifting score was 597.5 kg (the sum of the heaviest weight lifted with squat, bench and deadlift). This was over 200 kg more than her nearest competitor, SuJan Gill, with 387.5 kg.
Following Andres’ victory, Hutchinson vented her frustration in a fiery op-ed for DailyMail.com, calling for fairness in the sport and criticizing Andres for calling her female rivals “weak.”
She alleged that Andres was “ridiculing women on social media, portraying us as weak and rubbing it in our faces.”
At one point, Andrés even described a female rival as having “little T-Rex arms.”
Hutchinson also said that when Andres won another competition, it was particularly confronting to see her put a stuffed T-Rex on stage. Especially since she noted that the only other two on stage were also there, because all the other contestants had dropped out.
“Andres was taking podiums and actually breaking records, and he shouldn’t have been,” Hutchinson argued last year.
Andres mocked her female rivals as “weak,” Hutchinson said
‘It just doesn’t give women a fair chance in sport, it’s not a level playing field. Why spend money on federations or a sport when you’re already set up to fail or lose, when there are just so many physical advantages that a man has?
“There’s a reason why men’s sports have men’s and women’s categories. We deserve fair sports and men in our sports. I mean, it’s, it’s not fair.
“There’s a reason why the Paralympic Games have different categories – men, women and weight classes,” Hutchinson said at the time.
She now says that if nothing is done to prevent biological male athletes from competing against female athletes, “the female category will effectively disappear.”
“Men will continue to dominate the women’s category. And when I say dominate, I don’t just mean winning medals. It’s about taking scholarships and prize money away from women. There are many different ways,” Hutchinson said.
To prevent this, she advises female athletes to boycott competitions aimed at transgender people.
She indicated that she herself refused to compete against Andres, even though she attended the national competitions.
Hutchinson said she instead organized a protest, which was eventually joined by 16 other female athletes.
“I think it’s good for women to unite,” she said.
Hutchinson has argued that pitting transgender athletes against biological women creates an uneven playing field
But, she said, it’s not always up to women to stand up for themselves.
“These policymakers should do more to protect women,” argued Hutchinson, the heads of the sports federations in each country.
If that doesn’t happen, Hutchinson suggests that the female athletes sue the federations.
“Women must unite, they must denounce and they must boycott,” she said.
“I think my main message is, women, we need to stop it.”
If a female athlete cannot cancel or boycott an event, Hutchinson said they should “try to contact the federation and make their own policy.
“Use your voice, try to be an advocate,” she urged.
“If you can get together, talk to other female athletes, reach out to me, reach out to Riley Gaines. There are people.”
She says she will continue to support biologically female athletes and has no regrets about speaking out, even after the suspension.
She says she will continue to be there for other female athletes and has no regrets about speaking out, even after the suspension.
“If I got banned for 10 years I wouldn’t care because it was worth it. I would do it again,” Hutchinson told DailyMail.com.
She described advocating for female athletes as “honestly one of the best things I’ve ever done” and indicated she may return to weightlifting in November.