Popular surf brand Rip Curl faced threats of a boycott after featuring a transgender ‘woman’ in an Instagram post.
Rip Curl is conducting major damage control after featuring a transgender-identifying man in a promotion for women’s surfing last week, sparking outrage among customers.
Last Thursday, the brand shared images of Sasha Lowerson, a 44-year-old male who identifies as a woman, on the Rip Curl Women Instagram page as part of its “Meet The Local Heroes of Western Australia campaign series.
In the post, Rip Curl Women described Lowerson as a “West Australian water woman who loves the freedom found in surfing,” and praised a group of surfers who have “created an inclusive space to boost confidence.” The brand also disabled the feature allowing other Instagram users to comment on the post, writing, “With a commitment to maintaining a positive space for all, we have disabled our comments,” and thanked followers for their “understanding.”
This, however, did not prevent the company from facing immense backlash following the promotion of a male surfer identifying as a female.
Posts began trending online featuring the hashtags “#GoWokeGoBroke #savewomenssports #StopReplacingWomen #boycottripcurl and #RIPcurl.” Some users called the post “despicable,” while others vowed to boycott the brand, while others encouraged former customers to “Flood the market with their used products to really hurt them.”
Not long after receiving a whirlwind of backlash, the company deleted the Instagram post and shared an apology.
“Our recent post has landed us in the divisive space around transgender participation in competitive sport,” Rip Curl Women wrote on Instagram. “We want to promote surfing for everyone in a respectful way but recognise [sic] we upset a lot of people with our post and for that, we are sorry. To clarify, the surfer featured has not replaced anyone on the Rip Curl team and is not a sponsored athlete.”
This comes on the heels of renowned surfer Bethany Hamilton unexpectedly ending her contract with Rip Curl, her long-term sponsor, shortly after re-signing a five-year deal with the brand on January 28th, 2022.
Hamilton, who became a household name after losing an arm in a 2003 shark attack and later returning to compete in the sport professionally, famously cut ties with the World Surf League (WSL) after the organization announced that it would be adopting the transgender policy in February 2023, reportedly setting in motion the end of her relationship with Rip Curl as well.
Hamilton did not appear to directly comment on the controversy, but rather posted to X (formerly Twitter), “Male-bodied athletes should not be competing in female sports. Period.”
