A female competitive powerlifter for Team Canada who spoke out after a trans-identified male athlete set a women’s national record at a championship in Manitoba has been informed that she is facing a two-year suspension from her sport as a result. April Hutchinson shared the news to X (formerly Twitter), where she has received an outpouring of support after she slammed the situation as a “horror show.”
“I now face a 2-year ban by the [Canadian Powerlifting Union] CPU for speaking publicly about the unfairness of biological males being allowed to taunt female competitors & loot their winnings,” Hutchinson wrote.
“Apparently, I have failed in my gender-role duties as ‘supporting actress’ in the horror show that is my sport right now. Naturally, the CPU deemed MY written (private) complaint of the male bullying to be ‘frivolous and vexatious.’”
Alongside her statement, Hutchinson shared images of the notice she had received, which reported that a discipline committee had convened on October 23 and had “determined that there is sufficient evidence for Major Infraction as a result of repeating offences, including prior warning.”
“Based on the information provided, the Discipline Panel is recommending that [April Hutchinson] have her membership to the CPU suspended for 2 years. We strongly feel this is a case of a repeated offence, and should be treated as such,” the notice read.
Hutchinson was reported to the CPU on August 23 by Anne Andres, a trans-identified male athlete who set a women’s national record at a championship in Brandon, Manitoba, on August 13. Hutchinson had publicly condemned his participation in the women’s category, and appeared on Piers Morgan Uncensored just days after the championship competition.
“I’ve been a powerlifter with the Canadian Powerlifting Union for about four years now. Over the last year, I have been fighting my federation to ban trans women — also known as men — from competing with women in powerlifting,” Hutchinson told host Rosanna Lockwood.
“They have ignored my pleas, as well as many other women who don’t agree with it. They’ve actually threatened to suspend me for speaking up about the matter,” she added. “The threats keep coming, and disciplinary action for speaking up has been ongoing over the last year.”
“The whole thing is disgusting. It’s disgraceful. It’s disheartening,” Hutchinson remarked. “I’ve been threatened with suspension. Two weeks ago, I received a letter from my Federation, stating that I cannot call Anne a biological male.”
In response to news of Hutchinson’s potential ban, The Daily Mail reached out to Andres for comment. He responded by telling the journalist who contacted him that “the blood of LGBT people” was on her hands, and added, “Get straight f*cked.”
Andres, 40, currently holds multiple records in the female division, including the women’s deadlift and bench press, and has placed first in nine out of the eleven competitions he has participated in over the past four years.
At the Canadian Powerlifting Union’s (CPU) 2023 Western Canadian Championship, Andres participated in the Female Masters Unequipped category, and beat out Michelle Kymanick and SuJan Gil for the first place award — with a total powerlifting score that was over 200kg more than the top-performing female in the same class.
A “total” is the sum of the heaviest weight lifted for the squat, bench press, and deadlift. Andres’ total would have placed him amongst the top-performing male powerlifters in the entire championship had he participated in the men’s category.
The Western Canadian Championships was held under the umbrella of the Canadian Powerlifting Union (CPU), which announced a gender self-identification policy earlier this year. The policy, which garnered mass backlash from women’s rights advocates, explicitly allowed any males to participate in women’s competitions on the basis of self-declared “gender” alone.
In February, the CPU’s “Trans Inclusion Policy” was released, containing an explicit statement that the CPU supported allowing transgender powerlifters to participate in the sex category of their choosing based on a guidance from the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES).
“Based on this background and available evidence, the Expert Working Group felt that trans athletes should be able to participate in the gender with which they identify, regardless of whether or not they have undergone hormone therapy,” the document reads, deferring to the “inclusivity in sport” guidance from the CCES.
Just prior to the CPU’s announcement of a gender self-identification policy, Andres gained significant notoriety after sharing a video of himself appearing to mock female athletes, asking why female powerlifters were “so bad” at bench press.
The widespread outcry against males in women’s powerlifting events, prompted by news of Andres’ participation and taunting of female athletes, motivated the International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) to issue a policy change on August 21.
“For a transgender athlete to compete in the sport of powerlifting at any level, he/she must declare before competing that he/she is a transgender athlete. If an athlete fails to declare that he/she is a transgender and competes that violation leads to Disqualification of the result obtained in that Competition with all resulting Consequences, including forfeiture of any medals, points and prizes,” the IPF said in an updated policy document.
Increasing reports of male athletes identifying as female in order to compete in women’s events have attracted significant criticism. As previously reported by Reduxx, a Canadian powerlifting coach self-identified into the women’s category earlier this year and broke the Alberta women’s bench press record. Avi Silverberg was attempting to highlight the unfair advantage males have when competing in women’s athletics, in protest over the CPU’s recently implemented gender self-identification policies.