Source: Women are Human
US — . On July 30, 2021, Gabbi Alon Tuft announced plans to compete as a woman in the National Physique Committee (NPC) fitness competition. Tuft is a former American professional wrestler, who went by the stage name Tyler Reks. In February 2021, Tuft began identifying as a woman.
In May 2021, Tuft posted a video following surgery for breast implants and set up a ‘badge’ donation system through Instagram, encouraging fans to donate to cover the estimated $100,000 cost for additional surgeries.
In announcing the decision to compete as a woman in the NPC competition, Tuft claimed to be turning “a controversial national topic into a moment of understanding and education”. At the time of this article, the Twitter post had less than 150 ‘likes’, but over 1,000 comments, many of which admonished Tuft for entering a competition exclusively for women.
Women fought for single sex sports for the safety and fairness of our BODIES, not to have places to exhibit our “special identity.”
We say NO to men in our spaces/sports, this includes ALL MEN, regardless of the “special identity” claims they make about themselves.#NoThankYou
— Known Heretic: Amy E. Sousa (@KnownHeretic) August 11, 2021
Australian columnist Rita Panahi pointed out that a South Park episode had previously covered an almost identical scenario.
It’s ok @SouthPark already covered this. https://t.co/PHEGVSAVTu pic.twitter.com/90ZoiuZQhe
— Rita Panahi (@RitaPanahi) August 11, 2021
In the satirical animated show, a reporter interviews the current female champion, who initially expresses support for transgendered individuals participating as women, and tells the reporter he is “kind of bigoted”. However, the woman appears shocked when a large, muscular, male character turns out to be the transgender competitor, “Heather Swanson”. Swanson subsequently wins the competition with ease, and the third-place finisher is shown standing on the podium holding her wrist, with her face and legs bloody and bruised.
