California to force women's longboard competition to include trans surfers under penalty of state law

The California Coastal Commission is requiring that Huntington Beach Longboard Pro surf competition must allow trans-identified males to compete in the women’s division after the organization previously banned men from women's competition.

"This ban is not consistent with the public access, recreation, and environmental justice policies of the Coastal Act, nor is it consistent with the transgender policies adopted by the World Surf League (WSL) and International Surfing Association (ISA)," the California Coastal Commission, which regulates the use of land and water in the coastal zone, said in a letter to American Longboard Association founder Todd Messick.

"Commission staff are particularly concerned that the Huntington Beach Longboard Pro may limit access to an area of state waters for an event that does not provide equitable access to all competitors. Compliance with the policies of the WSL and ISA would serve to preserve public recreational opportunities for all people, which is a requirement of the California Coastal Act," the letter added.

The letter later added, "prohibiting or unfairly limiting transgender athletes from competing in this or any surf competition that takes place in the coastal waters of California does not meet the requirements of the public access policies of the Coastal Act and impedes access by discriminating against transgender surfers."

The letter stated that Messick had spoken with the commission on May 7 regarding the Saturday, May 11 event, and he had "committed to follow the ISA Transgender Policy Rule" and allow trans-identified males to compete in the women’s division.

The commission added that if Huntington does "not follow through with this commitment, Commission staff would not consider the event to be exempt from permitting requirements, and the American Longboard Association (ALA) could be subject to a Coastal Act enforcement action, which would include administrative penalties and other remedies to address a violation of public access provision of the Coastal Act."

The decision to ban trans-identified males centered around the inclusion of Sasha Jane Lowerson, an Australian who had previously won men’s events in the athlete’s home country.

"I was really disappointed and surprised [at being excluded]," Lowerson told the BBC. "You can't cherry-pick the rulebook. If you're going to use the rulebook, you use all of it."

"Three years ago I had just started my transition, and I made a phone call to Surfing Australia," she said. "I was really well-received. They were very forthcoming on being inclusive and being progressive."

Messick announced on April 25 that the Saturday event would not allow trans-identified males to compete in the women’s division, saying he wanted to "offer an equal playing field for all athletes."

Messick told the BBC he was "surprised by the amount of anger" that the decision caused, adding though that he "found too is that there was a lot of people very appreciative of me speaking up."

"For me, I was trying to do the right thing. It wasn't something I ever expected to have to deal with really, not in our little longboard community," he said.

The WSL announced in 2023 that it would be adopting the ISA’s transgender policy, which states that athletes "assigned male at birth" must demonstrate a testosterone level of less than 5 nmol/L continuously for the preceding 12 months, and must maintain this level.