Female skateboarder says trans competitors are taking prize money away from her and others

WASHINGTON (TND) — A female skateboarder took to social media to speak out about transgender athletes competing in her sport and winning, taking thousands of dollars of prize money away from her and other biologically female skaters.

“I am sick of being bullied into silence,” Taylor Silverman, 27, said in her post on Wednesday.

At the last contest series I did for Redbull, I placed second. The trans competitor who won took $1000 dollars in qualifiers, $3000 in finals, and $1,000 in best trick," Silverman writes in her post. "This totaled to $5000 of the prize money meant for the female athletes.

Silverman says she has competed in three different contests which allowed trans athletes to compete. She says she placed second in two of them.

In one of those competitions, last year’s Red Bull Cornerstone competition, Silverman took second place while Lillian Gallagher, a transgender skater, took first, according to skateboarding magazine SkateNugg.

Silverman says she decided to email Red Bull about the competition and attached a screenshot of her email to her Instagram post.

In that email, Silverman says “a biological man with a clear advantage won the women’s division, best trick, and also won multiple qualifiers."

This took away the opportunity that was meant for women to place and earn money," Silverman tells Red bull in her email. "What happened was unfair and at the time I was too uncomfortable to speak up. I understand that in today's society even some women this is acceptable, but I believe in doing the right thing even if it's not the popular thing. I now realize it's really important for me to speak up and I'd like to schedule a time to talk.

Red Bull did not get back to Silverman, and the skateboarder says the company has "completely ignored" her.

“I deserved to place first, be acknowledged for my win, and get paid,” Silverman says in her Instagram post. Many respondents to Silverman's Instagram post support and agree with her.

Blogger and podcast host Tim Pool is offering Silverman and other biologically female skateboarders aid, saying his podcast “will gladly cover the difference and grant Taylor Silverman the $2250 difference lost.”

“We will also be willing to cover the total lost revenue for the female athletes who would have placed higher were it not for the male athlete,” Pool tweeted.

Others disagree, going so far as to label the skateboarder a "transphobe." Some have even begun targeting and attacking Silverman online.

Blogger Christina Buttons tweeted “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,” Buttons added, saying Silverman was “incredibly brave for speaking up to defend her sports category. Not many can tolerate the onslaught of abuse she’s endured.”

English broadcaster Piers Morgan said that “the abuse that [Silverman] got from the trans community was appalling.”