Viral Petition to Stop Trans Athletes Competing at Olympics Removed for 'Hate Speech'
Change.org removes petition which racked up 30,000 signatures
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A viral petition which called for transgender people to be banned from competing at the Olympics has been removed by Change.org for "hate speech."
The petition racked up over 30,000 signatures.
The petition wrote:
"Women and girls are being sacrificed by the IOC (International Olympic Committee) as an easy fix for transgender demands for inclusion."
The removal comes as New Zealand's weightlifter Laurel Hubbard, who is a male identifying as a woman, was confirmed as the first trans athlete to compete in the Olympic games.
Hubbard has been competing at home and would have made New Zealand’s last Olympics team if it wasn't for injury preventing it.
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The petition read:
"Male-born athletes who identify as women are taking women's places on sports teams, breaking women's sporting records and insisting they must share changing and showering facilities with women."
"This is unfair to women due to the incontrovertible physical advantage that transwomen have."
The Daily Mail reported the petition was removed after it was "flagged as hate speech."
The IOC made changes to qualifying guidelines that allowed transgender athletes to compete in women's sports depending on testosterone levels.
Hubbard was competing as a male weightlifter before transitioning in 2012.
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Hubbard will now compete in the women's super heavyweight category.
The biological male athlete said:
"The Olympic Games are a global celebration of our hopes, our ideals, and our values."
"I commend the IOC for its commitment to making sport inclusive and accessible."
Hubbard continued:
"When I broke my arm at the Commonwealth Games three years ago, I was advised that my sporting career had likely reached its end.
"But your support, your encouragement, and your aroha [love] carried me through the darkness."
"The last eighteen months has shown us all that there is strength in kinship, in community, and in working together towards a common purpose.
"The mana [power/honour] of the silver fern comes from all of you, and I will wear it with pride."
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Medical and Science director, Dr. Richard Budgett, said, “everyone agrees that trans women are women,” following his praise of Hubbard.
During a Friday press conference, Budgett hailed Hubbard for exhibiting “courage and tenacity.”
"To put it in a nutshell, the IOC had a scientific consensus back in 2015."
“There are no IOC rules or regulations around transgender participation.
"That depends on each international federation.”
Former British Olympian Sharron Davies blasted the IOC for allowing a transgender weightlifter to compete.
Davies argued competitors must be separated by biological sex rather than "gender identity" to keep sports fair.
