April Hutchinson, a Canadian powerlifter, has been persecuted for trying to ensure that her sport stays fair. After speaking out against biological males competing in lifting competitions against biological females, April was initially suspended for two years by the Canadian Powerlifting Union (CPU).
Her ban was recently reduced on appeal, and her activism for sports fairness spurred the resignation of the president of the CPU and forced the organization to adopt stricter guidelines on male-born athletes who identify as female. However, she’ll still be serving a one-year prohibition on competing in CPU events.
I was joined by April to discuss the sweeping new policies Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced that will prohibit transgender women from competing in biological women’s sports leagues, among other changes. The province will also ban hormone blockers and ‘gender-affirming surgeries’ in children under 15.
Without giving too much away, April suggested that other provinces may follow suit. “I have been in talks with another province. There is going to be some more changes coming down the road,” she said. “And this is exactly what we want. We wanted someone like Danielle Smith, who is an incredible, incredibly strong woman that went forward and changed their government. We needed one person to come out because I do think it’s going to be a domino effect.”
Transgender athletes have become a third rail in Canadian politics, with many afraid to touch the issue. This extends even to the parents of young girls who are now competing against grown males who insist they too are girls — even using the same changerooms.
“Sports should be about fairness, integrity and safety. Those are the three main things. And all three of those things have gone out the window this last year,” April said.
“I have no idea why these parents are too afraid to speak up, because I know if my daughter was in a locker room with a man — you don’t even want to know what I would do. The parents need to be stopping the silence because that’s part of the problem.”
Make sure to sign our petition supporting April at StandWithApril.com, where you can also find more of our reports on the invasion of biological men into women’s sports.
