Surfing competition is bullied into allowing transgender woman to take part ... trends now
A surfing competition has been forced to allow a transgender woman to compete after initially banning her from the tournament.
But despite the ban being lifted by a demand from Californian regulators, the surfer Sasha Jane Lowerson, 44, said she would refuse to compete anyway.
The American Longboard Association said last month that transgender women could not compete in the Huntington Beach Longboard Pro this Saturday.
'We're gonna stick to our guns, I wanna offer an equal playing field for all athletes and that's the stand we're taking,' founder Todd Messick said.
Sasha Jane Lowerson, 44, was banned from the Huntington Beach Longboard Pro until the California Coastal Commission forced organizers to change policy
Messick's stance divided opinion in the surfing community and he received strong support online from activists opposing trans athletes competing against women.
However, he was on Tuesday sent a strongly worded letter from the California Coastal Commission demanding a U-turn.
Executive director Kate Huckelbridge wrote that surfing competitions in Californian waters could not discriminate based on gender.
She wrote that the ban was not consistent with the Coastal Act and was 'particularly concerned' the event 'does not provide equitable access to all competitors'.
'Prohibiting or unfairly limiting' transgender athletes from competing... impedes access by discriminating against transgender surfers,' she wrote.
Huckelbridge wrote that the event, as per law, would need a permit - but would be given an exemption if it followed the commission's 'environmental justice policy', which forbids discrimination based on gender.
Her letter threatened 'administrative penalties and other remedies' if this was not followed.
Lowerson said she was 'really disappointed and surprised' at being excluded from the Huntington Beach Longboard Pro
Lowerson won men's surfing competitions in her native Australia before she transitioned about three years ago
Despite Lowerson registering for the event sparking the commission's intervention, she was not on the published list for the event and said she wouldn't compete
Despite Lowerson registering for the event sparking the commission's intervention, she was not on the published list for the event and said she wouldn't compete.
'Why would I openly subject myself to the dangers associated with turning up to this minor small time event with little to no safety precautions. This event is poorly planed poorly ran,' she said.
'As far as I know the organizers made a public announcement via social media without contacting me stating I wasn't allowed to surf.
'I have since yet had zero contact with this organization. They have yet not even bothered to refund my event entry fee.'
Messick said in a video announcing the transgender ban last month that he would 'support biological males and biological females in their divisions'.
'If you were born a female, you enter in the women's; if you were born a male you enter into the men's,' he said.
'You guys can live however and whatever you want to do in life, that's not for me to decide, but it is for me to decide what's fair and what's not fair for the American Longboard Association.
'We're gonna stick to our guns, I wanna offer an equal playing field for all
