Two biological men currently share 4 out of 5 women’s powerlifting records in Alberta as a result of the Canadian Powerlifting Union’s current policy that values “trans inclusion.” 

A biological male, Anne Andres, who identifies as female, competed in a women’s 40-50 classic lifting competition at the World Masters Powerlifting Championships. 

“’I will win by a good margin. This is due to my training ethic, but people widely misattribute it to my history 20 years ago” Andrews wrote before the competition on an instagram post. 

Andres set a national record of 556 pounds in women’s deadlift, and later boasted about having “every masters record and two unofficial world masters records.” 

Andres is permitted to compete against women after the Canadian Powerlifting Union modified their trans inclusion policy. The new policy allows anyone who identifies as female to compete in the women’s category, with no requirement of surgery, hormone therapy, or even a doctor’s note. 

It’s been noted that this policy is very similar to the guidelines of the official trans recommendations, created by The Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport, which is a group that receives almost all of its funding by the federal government. 

The policy reads 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.” 

Bearded ‘woman’ breaks women’s record in protest

The new trans inclusion policy encouraged a Team Canada powerlifting coach, Avi Silverberg, to identify as female as a political statement before participating in a women’s bench press competition. 

Silverberg destroyed the women’s previous bench press record of 275 which was held by another trans athlete (Andres). Silverberg benched a total of 370 pounds while Andres was present. 

Silverberg said his goal was to show that biological men competing in women’s sports is completely unfair, which Andres later admitted is a likelihood in an Instagram post. 

“Maybe my participation isn’t necessarily fair – you know, there’s science or whatever,” Andres said. 

Subsequently, an actual Canadian female powerlifter, April Hutchinson, slammed her Federation for allowing trans women to compete against women in competitions.