Sasha Jane Lowerson. Photo: Surfing Justin Majeks//Western Australia
Rip Curl has become the target for increasingly fervent criticism from fans after featuring a transgender surfer in an Instagram post this week. The controversy has rekindled a long-running debate regarding the inclusion of transgender women in female surfing competitions – and female sport in general – and has started to gain the attention of the non-surfing world.
Last week, Sasha Jane Lowerson was featured in an Instagram post on the Rip Curl Women Instagram account as part of its Meet The Local Heroes of Western Australia campaign. The post was one of several featuring Western Australian woman surfers describing how surfing in WA had shaped their lives. Though Lowerson is a transgender woman, the post did not highlight any specifics of her gender identity, beyond her status as a female surfer.
Almost immediately, the post received backlash from fans who were ideologically opposed to the inclusion of transgender athletes in women’s events. Many called for a boycott of the brand, in an echo of the controversy that arose when Bud Light was featured in a social media promotion by transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. Soon after, the post featuring Lowerson was quietly removed, though other posts on the Rip Curl Women account are still being flooded with negative comments.
The post also drew the ire of several activists with large social media followings who oppose the inclusion of transgender women in women’s sporting events, including former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines and skateboarder Taylor Silverman. Gaines tweeted, “Encouraging to see so many people reply that they’re throwing out their Rip Curl apparel and pledging not to buy from them again. RIP Ripcurl [sic].”
Controversy regarding the inclusion of transgender women in professional surfing has often centered around Lowerson, starting in May of 2022, when she won both the Open Women’s and Open Logger divisions of the Western Australian State Championships. With that victory, Lowerson became the first openly transgender woman to win a surfing competition. Just three years earlier, she had won at the event while competing in the men’s division.
In response, the International Surfing Association (ISA) published its policy on transgender participation. The policy, adopted in October of 2022, requires athletes who are assigned male at birth to maintain a testosterone level less than 5 nmol/L (nanomoles per liter) continuously for the previous 12 months to be eligible to compete in a women’s event. Subsequently, the WSL adopted the ISA’s policy in February of 2023. “We’ve been in a lot of conversations with a lot of different stakeholder groups,” the WSL’s Jesse Miley-Dyer told The Inertia’s Evan Quarnstrom, “And we recognize the ISA took a very deliberate approach.” According to the press release announcing the decision, surfing’s status as an Olympic sport also factored into the ruling.
Pro surfer Bethany Hamilton quickly took to social media to oppose the decision. In an Instagram post, she criticized the new policy and stated that she would prefer a separate division for transgender athletes. Hamilton concluded the video by saying “I personally won’t be competing in or supporting the World Surf League if this rule remains.”
Soon after, Hamilton and long-time sponsor Rip Curl were reported to have parted ways. Though neither Rip Curl nor Hamilton have made any public statements on the subject, an anonymous source told Stab that this was a mutual decision “due to a disconnect on ‘core ideals,’” specifically Sasha Jane Lowerson’s inclusion in RC’s Summer Looks Good On You campaign.
Some internet commenters (including Riley Gaines) have criticized Rip Curl for “replacing” Hamilton with Lowerson. However, that doesn’t seem to be the case. Hamilton was still posting Rip Curl-branded social media posts at the end of August, a month after Lowerson was featured in this Summer Looks Good On You campaign. Furthermore, if the decision was indeed mutual, then Bethany’s relationship with Rip Curl ended at least partly of her own accord.
Since the firestorm has erupted around the Instagram post featuring Lowerson, Hamilton has doubled down on her stance against transgender women participating in women’s athletic events. She posted Monday on X that, “Male-bodied athletes should not be competing in female sports. Period.”
As of yet, neither Rip Curl nor Lowerson have commented publicly on the matter. We’ve also reached out to both Rip Curl and Lowerson and have yet to hear back.
