Teen skateboarder speaks out after 29-year-old trans competitor wins tournament
Taylor Silverman says she has competed against transgender athletes three times and calls out contest organizers for ignoring competitors' concerns.
Taylor Silverman, a competitive skateboarder, spoke out following 29-year-old transgender athlete Ricci Tres’s recent tournament win against girls as young as ten. Silverman called out contest organizers for ignoring concerns from young female athletes.
Tres, who identifies as female, defended herself after winning The Boardr Open’s top prize of $500 in the women’s division, telling the Daily Mail, "I’m not going to go and be easy on them because they’re kids."
Silverman, however, said age isn’t the issue.
"It's not that uncommon to see a wide range of ages within a skate contest," Silverman, 27, said on "Americas Newsroom" Friday. "There's a male in the women's division, and that's what's unfair here."
Silverman told host Dana Perino she has noticed the increase in transgender athletes competing in women’s sports over the past several years and explained that it now happens "quite often."
"This happened to me on three separate occasions, two of which I placed second," she said. "There are several skaters doing this in skateboarding."
Silverman said she reached out to Red Bull organizers after she lost to a transgender competitor.
"I lost out on some money because of it, and so did everybody else. We all got pushed back in our podium spots," she said.
TITLE IX'S 50TH ANNIVERSARY: DEBATE OVER TRANSGENDER ATHLETES RAGES
She privately emailed the organization in hopes of finding an "appropriate" solution.
"My email was completely ignored."
Demonstrators listen to the speaking program during an "Our Bodies, Our Sports" rally for the 50th anniversary of Title IX at Freedom Plaza on June 23, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) ((Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images))
Silverman has since turned to social media to share her story and said she now receives hundreds of messages of support from athletes, their family members and their friends across various sports.
"People are saying silent or acting like they're okay with it when people are actually incredibly upset," she said.
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Silverman called on athletes and parents in similar situations to speak out, offering the assurance that there is a community that supports her.
"We shouldn’t allow this type of abuse," she said. "And we shouldn’t be sitting in silence and fear."