An announcement from pro surfing’s governing body to allow transgender surfers who have low testosterone levels to compete in women’s divisions has stirred a firestorm of debate.

The World Surf League’s new policy was announced Monday, Feb. 6, promoting response from surfers around the globe, some in support of the guidelines and others against the inclusion of transgender athletes in competition.

The Santa Monica-based World Surf League is the governing body for professional surfers, holding World Tour events for the globe’s top competitive surfers, as well as Qualifying Series events that help surfers reach high-level competitions with the goal of winning a WSL world championship.

The World Surf League said it is aligning itself with the policy of the International Surfing Association – the governing body for surfing in the Olympics – on transgender participation, setting the qualification for a male-born athlete who identifies as a woman to compete with women at a testosterone level testing less than 5 nanomoles per litre continuously for the previous 12 months. The International Surfing Association’s Medical Commission issued its order on Oct. 20.

“The WSL is working to balance equity and fairness, and we will continue to evaluate the policy in the months and years ahead as more research, information and feedback are available,” the WSL announcement says.

Bethany Hamilton, who is not on the World Tour but occasionally competes at surf contests and always draws big crowds, garnered lots of attention this week after speaking out against the WSL’s  trans policy. Hamilton, who lost her arm in a shark bite in 2003, is one of the world’s most recognizable surfers and said she would boycott future events if the rule remains.

“I strive to have love for all of mankind, regardless of any differences,” she said in a video. “But this concerns me as a professional athlete that has been competing in World Surf League contests for the past 15-plus years, and I feel that I must speak up for those in a position who feel they cannot say something about this.”

Athlete Ally, a nonprofit LGBTQ athletic advocacy group, argues that the trans community remains systematically excluded from sports and that everyone should have equal access, opportunity and experience in sports regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.

“We applaud their desire to balance equity and fairness in an environment that is increasingly seeking to sideline transgender women from sport,” Anne Lieberman, director of policy and programs at Athlete Ally, said in a statement. “We also hope to see more inclusive guidelines in place for surfers who are not competing at the elite level.”

Hamilton, in her video to her  to her 2.1 million followers on Instagram, said she has questions about the transgender inclusion guidelines, such as whether the pro surfers on tour had been asked their thoughts on the new rules prior to the announcement, whether hormone levels are an “honest and accurate depiction” that someone indeed is male or female, and whether this policy is better for the sport of surfing.

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“I personally think the best solution would be to create a separate division so all can have an opportunity to showcase passion and talent,” she said, arguing there’s “glimpses of male-bodied dominance” in other sports such as running and swimming.

But Joanna Hoffman, director of communications for Athlete Ally, argues the actual threats to women’s surfing are issues such as unequal pay, sexual abuse and lack of media coverage of women’s sports – not the inclusion of transgender athletes, with no evidence in studies of biological advantages  among trans women who have undergone testosterone suppression.

About Hamilton’s suggestion for a trans-only division, there would hardly be any people competing in that category because there are so few trans athletes, Hoffman argued. “Who would they even compete against?”

Transgender people are already stigmatized in an “other” category, but “trans women are women and should be competing with other women,” Hoffman said.

“What it comes down to is every athlete is a different person and we shouldn’t make the statement that an entire group of people shouldn’t be competing with everyone else,” she said. “This notion that trans women are dominating and winning all the medals, it’s simply not happening.”

Transgender surfer Sasha Jane Lowerson competed as male Ryan Egan and won a Western Australia longboard title in 2019 before transitioning, earning the WA longboard championship three years later in 2022 in the women’s division.

“To be the first transgender woman competing in surfing hasn’t been an easy ride emotionally, but the amount of support I’ve been shown has been phenomenal and I’m so grateful to be involved, welcomed and embraced within the longboard community in Australia,” Lowerson told Surfing Western Australia, the organization behind the event.

The International Olympic Committee released its latest policy in November, stating that while it would issue a framework, ultimately guidelines would be left up to the governing bodies of the sports to determine how an athlete may be at a disproportionate advantage against their peers.

“Everyone, regardless of their gender identity, expression and/or sex variations should be able to participate in sport safely and without prejudice,” the IOC framework document says. “No athlete should be precluded from competing or excluded from competition on the exclusive ground of an unverified, alleged or perceived unfair competitive advantage due to their sex variations, physical appearances and or transgender status.”