Photo by Matt Dunbar.
In 2003, professional surfer, Bethany Hamilton lost her left arm in a major shark attack. She soon became a worldwide inspiration, as she conquered surfing with one arm.
Rip Curl has represented Bethany Hamilton since 1999. On January 8, 2022, Hamilton decided to re-sign a five-year contract with Rip Curl. Hamilton had a healthy, established relationship with Rip Curl for several years, until now.
This relationship was ended when the World Surf League unveiled its Transgender Policy in February of 2023. That policy stated,
“As an Olympic Sport, and with aspirations for all of the WSL’s disciplines to be included in the Olympics, the WSL had adopted the International Surfing Association (ISA) policy on transgender participation.”
The International Surfing Association allows transgender women to compete in women’s categories under certain conditions.
Hamilton’s reaction to this decision came in the form of a lengthy Instagram Reel, where she explained her views on the ruling, highlighting its impact on “biologically” female athletes.
All of this stir up caused Hamilton to pull out of her five-year contract with Rip Curl. It is believed that the World Surf League’s decision to adopt the ISA transgender policy is the primary reason she exited.
Ryan Egan was a male athlete that won the men’s longboard title in 2019. Egan transitioned and changed her name to Sasha Lowerson. In 2022, Egan won a women’s championship.
Rip Curl posted a video on the Rip Curl Women’s Instagram account, featuring Sasha Lowerson. This feature landed Rip Curl right amid a PR nightmare. Many surfers rushed to leave negative comments on the post, critiquing the brand’s use of a transgender individual in the advertisement.
After this video was posted, Bethany Hamilton went to Instagram again, posting a confident photo with the caption,
“Stand for what you believe in”.
The surfing community quickly concluded that Sasha Lowerson had taken over Bethany Hamilton’s position at Rip Curl. Rip Curl silently removed the video and posted an “apology” including,
“To clarify, the surfer featured has not replaced anyone on the Rip Curl team and is not a sponsored athlete.”
Image by Rip Curl.
This situation has caused uproar in the surf community worldwide. Some support Rip Curl’s attempt at inclusivity, while others are outraged by the polarizing space of transgender athletes.
California surf reporter, Glen Walsh, feels that both Bethany Hamilton and Rip Curl are at fault for creating this uncomfortable situation. In an interview, he said that the Rip Curl ad was “all about freedom! Being free to be who you are and love what you’re doing. Surfing is creative expression”. He disagrees with Rip Curl’s decision to make a public apology, “Rip Curl and their PR department should have anticipated this and stood their ground”.
Many believe that Hamilton is giving people the “go ahead” to spread transgender hate. Others wish to boycott Rip Curl. The power of Instagram’s comment section prevails once again, stirring up an entire community across the world.
I’ll burn my rip curl shirts.Don’t you know what a lady is!
I could not agree more with Bethany Hamilton’s position on not allowing people who were born male should not be allowed to compete against people who were born female. I was already a big fan of Bethany, but now I admire her even more!
I live in a surfer environment all summer long and I have just returned to my favorite hangout in So California. I’m disappointed to hear the negative responses about transgender athletes in the surfing world. We all belong no matter what and should not be choosing sides. We need to unite!
And you think men should compete in women’s sports . hey its not tra gendered it’s their idies are a .an n superior in strength. Only fools buy into the im a transgeder woman so I compete against women smaller. n less able to beat me. wake up n grow up.
Give transgender athletes their OWN category to compete in. I don’t understand why so many completely disregard the indisputable FACT that biological born males have a (huge) advantage over biological females. Allowing biological males to compete against biological females is just wrong. I applaud Bethany for standing up for her Christian beliefs. Too bad more weren’t like her. The world would be a LOT LESS screwed up for sure.
Man’s a man , women’s a women. Pretend all you want. 2 men will never reproduce , same for women. It’s not hate , it’s fact.
Good for Bethany who took a firm stand in support of science, biology, common sense, and decency. Did anyone who knows anything about this woman expect any less of her?
Rip Curl gave into the transgender insanity.
It has NOTHING to do with ‘inclusiveness’ or ‘hate’ but everything to do with basic biology, created order and logic. So, so basic.
Get a grip. Be the man or woman God created you to be… AT BIRTH.
Don’t be ridiculous.
Oh c’mon now! Rip Curl needs an operative, common sense PR department with people that actually use their brains. Furthermore, Glen Walsh should really think about what he is saying prior to stating it. Comments such as, “all about freedom! Being free to be who you are and love what you’re doing” leaves one to understand that Glen Walsh is indeed a loose canon without respect to common sense.
Placing “blame” on Bethany Hamilton for exercising her 1st Amendment rights is awful! And this guy is talking about freedom?
I side with Hamilton and she is NOT spreading transgender hate. She is standing up for biological women who are now competing against men in womens competitive sports. These men can be transgender all the want but they should not have the right to compete in womens sports. A transgender woman will never be a biological women. They are men.
The majority of these trans women leave a mens competitive sport ONLY because they can win in same sport but on a womens team. If no one can see that then you need to regroup and look at how many men are inserting themselves within a womens sport only to gain monetary or otherwise fame because they cannot win in the male version of the said sport. So they suddenly become trans. It is truly taking away from bioligical women who earned their place in their womens sports.