Taylor Silverman female skateboarder blames transgender athletes in costing her thousands in prize money as social media debates inclusion in female sports.
A female skateboarder has accused transgender athletes competing in women’s events — of ‘robbing’ her thousands of dollars in prize money that should have gone to her and other biological born females.
‘I am sick of being bullied into silence,’ Taylor Silverman, 27, complained on Instagram Wednesday, already landing more than 17,000 likes, along with a bevy of complaints accusing her of being transphobic.
Silverman, from Kalamazoo, Michigan, a star athlete in the sport decried having to compete with transgender athletes, whose inclusion led to her in recent events competing in, ‘three different contests with trans women, two of which I placed second.’
She shared a letter she wrote to Red Bull complaining about the “unfair” competition she faced at its Cornerstone competition, which skateboard blogs say was won by trans skater Lilian Gallagher.
‘A biological man with a clear advantage won the women’s division, best trick, and also won multiple qualifiers,’ Silverman wrote in the letter.
Debate ensues
‘This took away the opportunity that was meant for women to place and earn money,’ she wrote to Red Bull Senior Sports Marketing Manager Erich Dummer.
Silverman in her letter describes how Gallagher — whom she did not name — took home a total of ‘$5,000 of the prize money meant for the female athletes.’
‘I deserved to place first, be acknowledged for my win, and get paid,’ she said, complaining that she ‘was ignored’ by Red Bull.
The stance led to some calling for boycotts of events where trans skaters competed.
‘I’m proud of you for speaking up!’ posted one skateboarder. ‘Live your truth, and always stand for what you believe in, just as everyone else should.’
Others nevertheless decried Silverman as being a sore loser and transphobic.
Wrote one user, ‘get better and stop complaining about ‘only’ taking home $2750 lmfao what a joke’.
A small selection of the 1000’s of hateful comments received by Taylor Silverman after speaking out against the title and awards she lost to the biological male she competed against in the @Redbull Cornerstone women’s skateboarding competition. pic.twitter.com/Ugwf7KTjgL
— christina buttons (@buttonslives) May 18, 2022
Female athletes now fearing trans community for daring to speak out
While another wrote, ‘just take the L, she got that first place for a reason.. There are no “physical advantages” that cater to a specific gender in skating. You’re suggesting trans women be oppressed because you got second place…? grow up girl.’
Piers Morgan — who interviewed Silverman on his new TV show Thursday — said that ‘the abuse that she got from the trans community was appalling.’
Blogger Christina Buttons tweeted that ‘the amount of vitriol Taylor Silverman has received is exactly why more women don’t come forward when biological males enter their sports category.’
‘Every hour, 100’s of abusive comments come in for every few offering support,’ she noted.
To date Red Bull declined to publicly respond to Silverman’s criticisms.
