Bethany Hamilton is possibly the most recognizable professional surfer for surfing and non-surfing fans alike. She was attacked by a shark while surfing at age 13 and ended up losing her left arm. But instead of giving up, she got back on her surfboard and went on to win national titles and become a professional surfer at age 17. In spite of only having one arm and birthing four kids, she is still surfing professionally and is holding her own in the sport.

However, in February 2023, she posted this video explaining why she wouldn’t be participating in the World Surf League.

Surfing champion Bethany Hamilton responds to the World Surf League’s new policy allowing biological males who claim they are women to compete against women: “I personally won’t be competing in or supporting the World Surf League if this rule remains.”

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— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) February 5, 2023

The World Surf League, following an ambiguous and poor ruling by the International Olympics Committee, decided to allow gender-confused men to compete in the women’s league. Hamilton made her video simply to ask questions of her audience, particularly the World Surf League. She asks them to really think about the consequences of the rule change. She makes her own position clear and asks that biological men with gender issues be granted their own division.

Though this is a benevolent thought, it is a position that seems to gratify the notion of appeasement toward these men. The bottom line, however, is that males shouldn’t compete in female sports because they are men.

The sad, likely result of Hamilton making her position and opinion public was that she was dropped by her sponsor of many years, Rip Curl.

Rip Curl is an iconic surfing brand based in Australia. To add insult to injury, Rip Curl, within months, decided to sign on and promote surfer Sasha Jane Lowerson, a man who now identifies as a woman. Lowerson, whose name is really Ryan Egan, was a professional surfer for the men’s division and was pretty average. Now in his 40s, he is winning at longboarding competitions against much younger women surfers in their prime.

For their part, other women surfers decided to take a stand with Hamilton after Rip Curl put out an ad featuring Lowerson. Rip Curl got Bud Lighted by female surfers and its supporters online. It first disabled the comments on the ad, then eventually took it down. The backlash hasn’t stopped, and it shouldn’t.

This past Saturday, in an attempt at public placation, Rip Curl posted a different ad with female models in their swimsuits. Swimmer Riley Gaines, another other heroic woman speaking out against men in women’s sports, had this to say: “Hahahaha Ripcurl suddenly knows what a woman is. They’ve also since deleted all posts promoting a male surfer posing as a woman after dropping Bethany Hamilton. They want you to forget about their contempt for women. Don’t.”

For her part, Hamilton has doubled down on her position. After the Rip Curl ad was taken down, she wrote: “Male-bodied athletes should not be competing in female sports. Period.”

She is absolutely right. How many more stories do we need to read about boys and men dominating the girls’ and women’s divisions? What hope do our girls have to participate meaningfully and safely in sports? If more and more women like Bethany Hamilton, Riley Gaines, and all those amazing women cyclists continue to take a stand, there is a strong possibility that this disaster can be ameliorated.

Bethany Hamilton is famous for overcoming many obstacles in her path; being dropped by Rip Curl is just another. She is standing strong, although Rip Curl may need to be rebranded as R.I.P. Curl if the boycott keeps up.