Terrified martial artists say they withdrew from recent competitions to avoid facing much stronger transgender fighters, forcing a major organization to review its rules to ensure trans women can now only face men.
The North American Grappling Association (NAGA) said it revised its rules following complaints about transgender athletes fighting at recent events.
At one of her jiu jitsu events in Georgia earlier this month, transgender wrestler Corissa Griffith took home four gold medals in women’s competitions, while another, Cordelia Gregory, came in second, feminist outlet Reduxx said. .
NAGA suggested that transgender wrestlers likely competed by simply checking “female” on registration forms and then slipped through the cracks.
However, several women have complained about safety fears arising from unequal matchups (not all at NAGA events) that left some so scared that they withdrew from major tournaments to avoid similar encounters.
Jayden Alexander said she was left in tears after fighting with a transgender woman at an unspecified event in July, and was so “devastated” and scared that she withdrew from future competitions, including a NAGA one.
“The simple fact of the matter is that men entering a combat sport to fight women is absolutely unacceptable,” she said.
Jayden Alexander recounted in a recent social media post how he has stayed out of Jiu Jitsu events to avoid competing against transgender athletes. Instagram / @jayden.scrappy She shared the experience of her fighting a transgender woman in July. Instagram / @jayden.scrappy
“The experience was horrible and terrifying… I was absolutely in fight or flight mode,” he said in a video posted on Instagram.
“We do not deserve to exclude ourselves from competitions to avoid fighting against men. “We deserve to have rules and regulations put in place that keep us safe and protect us from these situations happening in the first place.”
Last month, Taelor Moore, a 135-pound woman, posted a video of herself fighting a 200-pound transgender athlete, which she captioned: “My biggest opponent yet.”
Although Moore won the fight, her trainer, Jimmy Witt, complained that she “could have been seriously injured,” according to Breitbart.
Another fighter, Ansleigh Wilk, said she was not told she would be fighting a transgender woman in a July 8 competition and was left in “panic mode.”
“They felt so strong that I thought, ‘Oh my God’… I thought I couldn’t beat them,” he said of the match he ultimately won.
“It was always about the other girls traumatized by this event and the future of women’s wrestling,” she said. “I can’t believe people think this is okay.”
Marshi Smith, co-founder of the Independent Women’s Sports Council, said she has “spoken to four women who have fought male wrestlers in the combat sport of Jiu Jitsu.”
“We don’t deserve to exclude ourselves from competitions to avoid fighters,” argued Alexander.Instagram / @jayden.scrappy
“They are extremely upset. They are emailing federation leaders and getting fired,” Smith told Reduxx.
NAGA emphasized that not all of the women who spoke had bad experiences at their events.
He also said his rules were that biological women always had the option to fight transgender athletes when they were aware of their participation.
However, NAGA President Kipp Kollar admitted on Instagram that registration for events only asks competitors if they are male or female, without the option to come out as transgender.
Jayden Alexander said he was left in tears after fighting with a transgender woman at an event in JulyInstagram/@jayden.scrappy
“We are adding additional text to the event and rules page… to help inform transgender women which division they should enter,” Kollar said.
“Maintaining fairness for female athletes is our top priority,” Klopp said, noting that it is “even more important given the increased potential for injuries in grappling.”
From now on, “male-to-female transgender athletes who have gone through male puberty are excluded from competing in the women’s division at NAGHA events.”
“Transgender women must compete in the men’s division,” NAGA also said in a policy update on Saturday.
“We hope that the simplicity of this revised policy will help prevent future incidents of transgender women entering women’s divisions,” the policy states, adding: “If NAGA staff are informed that a transgender woman is in a women’s division women, you will be given the option to go to the men’s division or you will be given a refund.”
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Source: vtt.edu.vn