Speaking during a recent podcast with Allie Beth Stuckey, Bethany Hamilton, the professional surfer who was attacked by a shark but survived and persevered in her career, the story behind the “Soul Surfer” book and movie, said that she strives to hold onto her Christian values even as public opinion changes more and more, even in her sport.
Particularly, she spoke about holding onto those values when speaking to Stuckey on her “Relatable” podcast about the inclusion of transgender athletes in the World Surf League, saying that she is against it and is working hard to hold onto her values despite those changes.
She said, commenting on how she has seen such policies impact other sports, “I’ve seen what’s going on in other sports and…I’m very much against that.” She added, commenting on how it means she has to work hard to hold onto her Christian values, “I kind of hold to my values, and I stand firm with what I believe and try not…to deviate much in my life.”
She went on to add that, in holding onto her values and pushing back, she has tried to just ask questions about the policy and what it means, saying, “My way of approach was very much just asking questions. I didn’t even state my opinion in public. I just asked questions.”
That appears to have been a reference to a video she released about the World Surf League policy, saying, “This concerns me as a professional athlete that has been competing in the World Surf League events for the past 15 plus years, and I feel that I must speak up and stand up for those in position that may feel that they cannot say something about this.”
Asking questions in that video, she said, “Is a hormone level an honest and accurate depiction that someone indeed is a male or female? How did whoever decided these hormone rules come to the conclusion that 12 months of testing testosterone make it a fair and legal switch?”
Watch her here:
In any case, commenting on why standing up for values is important, Hamilton said, “I was like, ‘If I ever have a daughter and I don’t stand up for her and, like, somehow she’s one day competing [as a surfer]…I want her to have the opportunity to win a world title without competing against males.”
The World Surf League, for its part, said that it has to comply with Olympic policies. “As an Olympic sport, and with aspirations for all of WSL’s disciplines to be included in the Olympics, the WSL has adopted the International Surfing Association policy on transgender participation,” a spokesperson for the WSL stated. That spokesperson continued, “The eligibility of a surfer to compete either in a men’s or women’s event under this rule shall be subject to compliance with the ISA Transgender Policy.”
Featured image credit: By Spoungeworthy at English Wikipedia – Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2347991