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Men crashing women’s competition did to Bethany Hamilton what a Great White Shark could not — force her to quit competing — but they can never steal her integrity or her resolve to keep standing up for what’s right.
In what could be yet another case of “Go Woke Go Broke,” surfing apparel company Rip Curl is facing calls for boycotts after it featured a transgender surfer who identifies as a woman in its “Meet the Heroes of West Australia” campaign — less than a year after the company parted ways with surfing legend Bethany Hamilton.
The controversy goes back to approximately February 2023 after the World Surf League released a policy allowing males who identify as female to compete against women.
Hamilton, who had re-signed a five-year contract with Rip Curl, posted her disagreement with the move on social media.
“This concerns me as a professional athlete that has been competing in the World Surf League events for the past 15-plus years,” she stated. “I think many of the girls currently on tour are not in support with this new rule and they fear being ostracized if they speak up.”
Hamilton cautioned that male athletes were dominating other sports and said that she would not be competing in World Surf League competitions if the mandate remained.
She has said that the only fair way to handle the problem is to have a separate division for transgender surfers.
“I was messaging with a friend who is a part of the (LGBTQ) community and I really don’t think at this point there is a solution that will please everyone,” she wrote. “There are different world views and that is part of life. I may not have the perfect answer. But I do feel the way I do and will continue to stand firm in what I shared here.”
Some speculate that this is when Rip Curl cut ties with Hamilton, though the details of their parting ways are unclear.
Fast forward to January 25 when Rip Curl included male surfer Ryan Egan (who now goes by the femal name Sasha Jane Lowerson) on its Instagram page in a post calling the transgender surfer a “Hero of West Australia.”
Egan was the first male identifying as a woman to compete in Western Australia’s state championships. He is also unique in that he is the only person to win both the men’s West Australia state championships, which he captured in 2019, and the West Australia women’s championship in 2022. Not surprisingly, Egan, who was part of the men’s longboard tour from 2015-2020, “didn’t just win,” wrote Outkick Sports, “the surfer completely dominated” the competition, “placing four points higher than the second place finisher in the Longboard and 2.5 points higher in the Logger.”
Rip Curl’s Instagram post drew the ire of many, particularly due to the company’s decision to distance itself from Hamilton, who is internationally beloved for her surfing accomplishments and her life story.
Hamilton was the subject of the documentary “Unstoppable”as well as the movie “Soul Surfer,” which each detail how Hamilton survived a shark attack when she was 13 years old that caused her to lose her left arm just below the shoulder.
Undeterred, Hamilton went back to surfing and has been at the tops of the competitive scene for many years.
Former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines, who is the face of the push to keep men out of women’s sports, posted on X, “You mean to tell me @ripcurl dropped Bethany Hamilton for opposing men surfing in the women’s league then picked up male surfer who surfs in the women’s league as a women’s ambassador? Crazzzzyyy”.
Skateboarder Taylor Silverman shared Gaines’s words and responded, “Another company to boycott. @ripcurl is a joke now.”
Many shared their disdain on X causing #BoycottRipCurl to sweep over the platform.
Author Erin Elizabeth wrote, “Imagine, dropping a phenomenal professional surfer, who survived a shark biting her arm off, only to replace her with a man who pretends to be a woman. Guess what my followers and I will be doing? We will all #BoycottRipCurl. Will you?”
One man filmed himself burning his Rip Curl clothing.
For her part, Hamilton has shied away from addressing Rip Curl directly but has reiterated her stance on males competing against women. On January 29 she wrote on X, “Male-bodied athletes should not be competing in female sports. Period.”
Hamilton has also partnered with Gaines to appear at children’s story hours at libraries where they will each read the books they wrote for Brave Books. “We’re drawing a clean line in the sand to show people where we stand,” Gaines told listeners of her podcast.
Hamilton is facing her own boycott after the Women’s Fund of the Oshkosh Area Community Foundation stated that she would be the keynote speaker for the 2024 Power of the Purse. The announcement drew the attention and ire of local LGBTQ activists. A letter sent to WLUK-TV demanded that Hamilton be removed as speaker. The letter, which included several dozen signatures from community members, stated,
“Bethany Hamilton’s boycott is not motivated by concerns about athlete safety or maintaining the integrity of a professional sport. Bethany Hamilton simply does not personally want to accept transgender women as women.
Once the Women’s Fund has removed and replaced Bethany Hamilton as keynote speaker for this and any future events and issued a public statement of apology to the LGBTQ+ community, we stand ready to accept that apology, end our objections, and extend our sincere wishes for their and your continued success.”
This is just the latest backlash that Hamilton has received as a result of her stance on men competing against women. Some of the comments about Hamilton have been cruel, with some making fun of her loss of an arm. “People have wished death upon my life. It makes you sad that society can be so gnarly,” the surfer stated.
When the world was still somewhat sane, Bethany Hamilton was an amazing inspiration to everyone, but especially young girls and young women. Before she came along, it was just assumed that surfers needed two arms to balance properly and outrace other surfers in the race for the best waves. That a teenage girl who’d been through such a trauma could find a way to not only surf again but to contend and succeed at the heights of international women’s competition was one of greatest stories ever in sports.
However, Bethany Hamilton would rather give up her career and stand on honor and truth than sell out other women just to remain in the sport. She is a true hero: a Christian, a wife, a mother, and someone who has long served her community and others and is willing to speak out against an injustice even though it has cost her business deals, her surfing career, and even her sense of safety. Hamilton could have continued competing, but she chosen not to as a way to make clear that what the World Surf League has done is wrong.
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