A museum in London, Ontario, has removed a female powerlifter from an exhibit on resilience in apparent retaliation for her vocal opposition to males participating in women’s sports. April Hutchinson said the move quickly followed her suspension from the Canadian Powerlifting Union.
Launched in October at the Museum London, the exhibition, titled “Resilient London: Meet Your Neighbours,” was intended to be an inspiration for the community and featured a diverse panel of locals alongside obstacles they had overcome. Hutchinson was featured not just as a local athlete, but also as a survivor of addiction.
But on November 10, Hutchinson received a letter from the Executive Director of the museum saying they were removing her feature from the exhibit. They stated their reasons were due to Hutchinson’s media appearances where she commented on male athletes competing in female sports. The letter accused Hutchinson of being at odds with the values of the museum, and claimed she was “denying” the existence of “transgender women.”
Signed by the museum’s executives, the letter continued by implying her public comments went against the Ontario Human Rights code, stating: “Misgendering someone intentionally is a form of discrimination.” The letter ended by saying they had made the decision to remove her from the exhibition because her comments were harmful to the “2SLGBTQI community.”
Speaking to Reduxx about her removal from the exhibit, Hutchinson expressed anger and sadness over the decision, which she says was a sudden, decisive move. Hutchinson says museum administrators were already aware of her views prior to her inclusion in the exhibit, and had still sought her out and worked with her on developing her contribution. At the time, the board director reportedly told Hutchinson that they would not police her online activity.
“I was devastated when they told me this information. I’m still so hurt. My friends and family and tons of people came out to support me. I’m still very angry and disgusted,” Hutchinson told Reduxx.
Hutchinson notes that it was only after she was suspended from the Canadian Powerlifting Union for her outspoken stance on women’s single-sex sports that the museum decided to take the opportunity to remove her display.
“The museum is basically telling women they don’t care about us. Our safety or our sports. It’s absolutely wrong. I am standing for truth and saying the things that 99% of society thinks. I will not lie to myself. I will not play charades and I will not give in to delusional thinking.”
After the Museum London removed Hutchinson, another member of the community who was featured in the exhibit celebrated the decision on social media.
Stevie Bees, a trans-identified female, took to Facebook to praise the museum for removing Hutchinson’s contribution.
“I am EXTREMELY proud to be on that wall and I also want everyone to know that Trans Women ARE Women! April Hutchinson SHOULD be deplatformed for spouting garbage like this,” Bees said, providing screenshots showing Hutchinson discussing her suspension from powerlifting for her stance on fairness in women’s sports.
Hutchinson has been outspoken in her defense of women’s sports, both in interviews and on social media. She appeared on Piers Morgan Uncensored in August of this year where she argued that males should not be allowed to compete against females in powerlifting due to their inherent biological advantages.
Hutchinson has also spoken about how she approached Canada’s powerlifting governing body, the Canadian Powerlifting Union (CPU), about the issue of males participating in female competitions.
During an event hosted by Independent Council on Women’s Sports (ICONS) in June of this year, Hutchinson said the CPU told her the issue wasn’t a concern because there weren’t many trans-identified males competing in female divisions.
Earlier this month, Hutchinson was suspended from competing and is now potentially facing a two-year ban from the Canadian Powerlifting Union for airing her grievances with biological males competing in women’s sports.
The suspension and potential ban follows Hutchinson voicing concerns about Anne Andres, a trans-identified male powerlifter who had bragged about beating women and labeled female competitors “weak.” Anne Andres recently set the all-time record at the Canadian Powerlifting Union’s 2023 Western Canadian Championship after scoring over 200kg more powerlifting points than the top-performing female in the same class.
Despite her removal from the exhibit and suspension from powerlifting, Hutchinson says she’s received an outpouring of support, including from other female athletes like Martina Navratilova. She also explained that her activism is motivated by a desire to ensure safety and equal opportunities for women in sports.
“Women need and deserve their own sports. The female category has always been protected,” she says.
“My platform is about fairness and women’s sports. It has nothing to do with hate or [being] anti-trans. The museum is basically sending the message that trans rights are more important than women’s rights … but women are fighting back and we will send a stronger message: Bodies play sports not identities.”