A Self-Identified Woman in a Male Body

"I got every masters record and two unofficial world masters records. I don't care about records. I care about being there with my friends."

"I ... didn't touch a barbell in my entire life until seven years ago."

"I will win by a good margin. This is due to my training ethic, but people widely misattribute it to my history [as a male] 20 years ago."

Trans power-lifter Anne Andres 

Anne Andres smashed the women's record during a championship (pictured)

"[Female competitors dropped out of the Manitoba competition rather than compete against Andres; the Canadian Powerlifting Union was doing] nothing [to address their concerns]."

"That national record that [Andres] broke; athletes have been chasing that for years. We're talking top athletes who have been training and training and training."

"It's bodies that play sports, not identities. Remember, bodies are biology, not identities that play sports."

"My boyfriend could basically walk in tomorrow, identify as a female, compete, and then the next day, go back to being a man again. No proof, no ID required, just basically going on how you feel that day or whatever gender you want."

Canadian powerlifter April Hutchinson

April Hutchinson, a powerlifter with the Canadian Powerlifting Union, criticized the decision to allow Andres to compete as being 'completely unfair'

First place in the Females Master Unequipped category at the Western Canadian Powerlifting & Bench Press Championships was handily won by trans power-lifter Anne Andres in the category featured for female weightlifters over age 35 who do not make use of supportive equipment like a squat suit. This is referred to as 'classic', or 'raw' weightlifting. Andres is 40 years of age. Twenty years spent as a male.

 

Andres set the Canadian national record for women's deadlift where a barbell is hoisted from ground to thigh level. It has been twenty years since Andres transitioned from male to female. Now he is set to represent Canada at the World Masters Power-lifting Championships taking place in October, and has not hesitated to state on social media that he/she is confident of winning. At the same time spurning suspicion that these wins cheat women out of hard-fought opportunities.

Sunday's Manitoba meet represents the tenth time first place has gone to Andres in a women's powerlifting category. The win spurred a tsunami of outrage by campaigners against trans athletes competing in women's categories as manifestly unfair. Women's records no longer represent training and female sport prowess since records are now being swept up by trans athletes [men] who identify as women.

 

Among those championing women competing in their own sports categories as opposed to men identifying as women taking their place are tennis icon Martina Navratilova and American competitive swimmer Riley Gaines. Both of these elite athletes have campaigned against trans women being included in women's sports. Riley Gaines identified Andres' win as evidence of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's "radical disdain for women".

 

In an interview, the win prompted a segment on British news channel TalkTV where powerlifter April Hutchinson pointed out that many female competitors choose not to compete once they're aware that they will be doing so against a transwoman. Recently, the Canadian Powerlifting Union updated their trans-inclusion policy to negate that surgery, hormone therapy or a doctor's note would be required for trans athletes to compete in a category consistent with their gender ID.

 

"Trans athletes should be able to participate in the gender with which they identify, regardless of whether or not they have undergone hormone therapy", reads the new policy. The guidelines now closely reflect the official trans recommendations developed by the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport, a group funded by the federal government. 

Men's powerlifter Avi Silverberg was so outraged at Andres' participation at a lifting event in Lethbridge, Alberta, that the veteran Team Canada coach identified as female for as long as it took to enable him to enter the competition, shattering the women's bench press record. Andres was present, witnessed the event, and was decidedly displeased, when the 84+ kilogram category whose record holder is Andres was shattered, calling Silverberg a 'coward and a bigot', with 'malicious intent'.

Anne Andres, a 40-year-old trans woman, set the all-time record at the Canadian Powerlifting Union's 2023 Western Canadian Championship Sunday - lifting a combined 200 kilograms more than the competitor in second place