Gaines for Girls with Riley Gaines - August 23, 2023


RILEY GAINES PODCAST： Powerlifting and Transgender Athletes： When Records Get a ＂Lift＂


Episode Stats


Length

30 minutes

Words per minute

173.9615

Word count

5,306

Sentence count

403

Harmful content

Misogyny

22

sentences flagged

Toxicity

2

sentences flagged

Hate speech

12

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

April Hutchinson is a Canadian National Team Powerlifter who has represented her country at the World Championships and has competed at the highest level of competition. In this episode, she shares her story of how she got her start in powerlifting and how she overcame a drinking problem that kept her from competing.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
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00:00:30.000 Welcome back to the Gains for Girls podcast.
00:00:36.100 Today's guest is a dear friend of mine and a Canadian national team powerlifter.
00:00:41.840 She's incredible.
00:00:42.900 She's done a lot of the heavy lifting herself, no pun intended.
00:00:46.580 Check out the interview with April Hutchinson.
00:00:49.400 Okay, April, I am so glad for you to be joining me.
00:00:53.300 We've known each other really for a while now.
00:00:55.640 Like, what, almost a year?
00:00:56.800 Probably more than a year.
00:00:57.780 However, how we've both been involved in this battle.
00:01:01.180 You, of course, and Canada, me here in the States, but we see a lot of parallels.
00:01:05.180 And so, I want you to just start by, tell us who you are, tell us what you do,
00:01:10.080 tell us how you got into doing what you do in terms of powerlifting.
00:01:14.460 Well, I live in London, Ontario, Canada.
00:01:16.740 And I actually started powerlifting in 2019.
00:01:21.600 So, I've been powerlifting for about four years now.
00:01:24.040 And I've always been, like, into sports, like, since a kid.
00:01:29.600 And I kind of dabbled in powerlifting when I was doing my MMA training.
00:01:33.880 So, I've actually done a cage fight before, which is funny.
00:01:37.380 But my coach got me into powerlifting to help with my power and my explosiveness.
00:01:43.080 So, I really enjoyed it.
00:01:46.240 But the one thing that kind of kept me back from being, I guess, my 100% potential was that majority of my life,
00:01:54.960 I was actually a very, a functioning alcoholic.
00:01:57.720 So, I would still play sports.
00:01:59.920 But, you know, I'd still actually do well at sports, even when I was, you know, in my drinking stages.
00:02:04.980 But, in 2019, I got quite a scare with my health.
00:02:10.640 My doctor basically gave me one year to live if I kept drinking.
00:02:14.840 So, I checked myself into rehab.
00:02:17.560 And when I came out, I literally started powerlifting the next day because I was familiar with it.
00:02:23.740 And I needed something as an outlet, basically, for my health and my mental health.
00:02:27.560 And that was actually right before COVID had hit, too, which was perfect timing because I don't think I would be alive today if I didn't get sober before COVID or have some type of exercise or outlet during that time.
00:02:41.940 And I guess, like, during COVID, I just, I trained.
00:02:44.840 I trained my butt off.
00:02:46.080 I had really nothing else to do.
00:02:47.680 I was working, but, I mean, everything was closed down.
00:02:50.460 So, I literally would train five times a week, two hours a day, and I qualified for the nationals.
00:02:57.060 It was probably one of my first meets was the nationals.
00:02:59.940 And usually, you don't skip, you would know, you don't skip right to the nationals, right?
00:03:02.980 You do qualifiers for that.
00:03:05.220 So, I was just very lucky.
00:03:08.100 I was just kind of grateful to go there.
00:03:09.960 And then, I went to Worlds in my second year, which was last year.
00:03:14.100 Oh, my gosh.
00:03:14.920 Wow.
00:03:15.180 So, you've competed at the highest level.
00:03:18.140 Yeah.
00:03:18.520 So, I did Worlds last year in October, and I've done two North American championships as well.
00:03:24.220 So, those are both international events, yeah.
00:03:27.740 Okay.
00:03:28.040 Just out of curiosity, I have to ask, what's your favorite lift?
00:03:32.000 Definitely deadlift.
00:03:34.240 I love the deadlift because I'm basically kind of born to do it.
00:03:37.880 I'm just, my body is just a deadlift body.
00:03:41.520 And it's actually the one lift that actually just shows your true, pure strength, which is great.
00:03:46.700 So, I just love doing it.
00:03:48.480 It gets me hyped up.
00:03:49.520 It's great.
00:03:50.760 So, you've competed at the highest level.
00:03:53.060 You've accomplished, obviously, some incredible things in really a short amount of time, which is incredibly impressive.
00:03:59.720 What are the kind of issues that you face in terms of, I don't think a lot of people understand that performing and competing at this level, it really is like a full-time job.
00:04:11.480 If you want to do it successfully and if you want to do it well.
00:04:14.680 So, it's hard sometimes to make a living for yourself.
00:04:18.760 So, talk about what that looks like as a female athlete competing at that level and the issues that arise. 0.71
00:04:25.120 And the opportunities that we have or, I guess, really don't have being female athletes. 1.00
00:04:32.120 Yeah.
00:04:32.400 So, I'm glad you brought this up because, I mean, I didn't realize just how much work I was, I guess, putting into it and how much, like, my lifting.
00:04:43.140 Like, I work full-time and after work, I train.
00:04:47.140 So, for me, it was, I couldn't skip workouts.
00:04:50.240 I'm not in this, I mean, I enjoy powerlifting, but I'm in a competitive sport too, right?
00:04:55.960 I'm sure that some people do it for fun.
00:04:58.140 They might powerlift once or twice a week.
00:04:59.860 But, at my level, I mean, I need to train three to five times a week.
00:05:04.720 I can't miss sessions.
00:05:07.160 Many times I've had to tell my boyfriend, oh, I can't see you tonight or I can't go to this function.
00:05:13.040 I can't go on holidays because I'll miss my training.
00:05:16.680 My diet, like, it's, you would know it's a 24-hour thing.
00:05:21.800 I have my little cheat days, but otherwise, I'm very cautious about how much protein I'm getting, where I'm eating, what I'm eating.
00:05:30.480 Nutrition, yeah, sleep is major.
00:05:32.800 It's probably the number one thing is sleep and, which I haven't had a lot of this year just because of all the stress with what I've been kind of battling for.
00:05:40.560 But, yeah, it's a lot, and it's really hard to get sponsors.
00:05:46.640 Like, people think that we just have sponsors, like, handed to us.
00:05:50.260 It's not the case.
00:05:51.840 A lot of the time, you actually have to put something out there and approach companies, right?
00:05:56.740 Like, I got some clothing companies that came to me.
00:05:59.780 Two came to me, but one, I actually went to them.
00:06:01.920 And you really have to be a business lady, really, not just an athlete, but a business person. 1.00
00:06:08.140 So I definitely put way more money into the sport than I actually get, and that's fine because I do it, again, just for myself, right?
00:06:16.960 I'm not here to make money.
00:06:18.460 It's an extra bonus.
00:06:19.900 But, yeah, no, it's a lot of sacrifice.
00:06:22.120 It's definitely a lot of sacrifice.
00:06:23.200 And, you know, after provincials in a couple weeks, I'd like to take a break.
00:06:28.000 I think I'm going to take a little bit of a break and focus more on cardio and cutting some weight.
00:06:32.820 But I definitely need a little bit of a break from it because it is time-consuming.
00:06:37.840 No doubt.
00:06:38.560 And one thing that I think is really compelling that I've heard you say previously is that even competing for the Canadian national team, right, representing your nation, your country, you even had to pay for your own uniform.
00:06:54.200 And I just say that to show really the lack of funding, the lack of resources that particularly women have.
00:07:03.500 Again, you're competing at the highest level, yet you were still paying out of pocket for your own uniform, which I just think is wild.
00:07:11.900 But it's an important piece to mention because it goes along with the other issues that you and a lot of other women around the world are facing.
00:07:22.160 And that is, of course, competing against men.
00:07:25.380 And my understanding is, of course, you have had to do this.
00:07:28.900 So when is the first time in powerlifting that you had to compete against a male?
00:07:34.640 And really, what did this look like?
00:07:36.340 And how has it progressed to where you are now?
00:07:39.200 So the trans-identifying athlete, Anne, in my federation,
00:07:46.040 I found out that Anne was a male, I think it was back in 2021.
00:07:55.700 I had no idea.
00:07:57.540 We were chatting about Laura Hubbard, the weightlifter that went to the Olympics.
00:08:02.860 And I was like, oh, that's totally unfair.
00:08:06.740 And Anne was like, well, I'm a male.
00:08:08.540 Did you know that?
00:08:09.260 And I said, I had no idea.
00:08:10.840 Like, I didn't know.
00:08:12.820 Like, he kept on referring to himself as a she-boy. 0.80
00:08:15.880 And I was like, I don't know what a she-boy is. 1.00
00:08:18.620 And so anyways, I said to Anne, I said, well, it's completely unfair.
00:08:23.800 Like, do you plan to go to nationals?
00:08:25.720 Like, how far are you going?
00:08:27.080 Are you just doing this for fun at a local level?
00:08:29.040 And he's like, oh, no, I want to go to Worlds and all this stuff.
00:08:32.120 And so I just said, that's nuts.
00:08:34.300 I'm like, I will not shut up about that.
00:08:36.700 Like, mark my words, I will not shut up about that.
00:08:39.400 And he blocked and deleted me.
00:08:42.180 Now, fast forward to 2022.
00:08:46.280 I was supposed to compete against Anne at the nationals.
00:08:50.500 And basically, I think there was maybe eight women in the category. 1.00
00:08:56.620 Some of them didn't know that Anne was a male, but I certainly knew.
00:09:02.060 So the day of the competition, I actually, the referees were like,
00:09:05.900 are you going to show up, April?
00:09:07.340 Like, where are you?
00:09:08.480 And I just texted them.
00:09:09.580 And I said, I refuse to show up if there's a biological man in the competition.
00:09:15.020 So that same very day, ICFS and Linda Blade and all the women showed up at the competition 0.75
00:09:21.060 and protested.
00:09:22.620 It was pretty epic.
00:09:23.940 And, of course, the president and people there tried to kick them out.
00:09:28.280 And they're like, nope, we're not leaving.
00:09:30.080 So it was pretty awesome.
00:09:31.500 And so I've never, I refuse, I will not compete against a man.
00:09:38.060 No.
00:09:38.860 So.
00:09:39.680 Now, this is what I think is so awesome.
00:09:43.260 In my experience, this, at least in the States, it all happened quickly.
00:09:47.500 This whole incident regarding Leah Thomas, it was kind of just thrown on us.
00:09:52.360 I don't even think we really, which this is a pretty lousy excuse, but me being 21 at the time,
00:09:56.900 I didn't even feel like I had enough time to think about what I wanted to do.
00:10:00.260 We were on the block racing each other.
00:10:02.300 But looking back, I so badly wish we would have taken more of a stand and really created
00:10:08.580 a coalition and not competed.
00:10:11.660 Again, I think everything happens for a reason.
00:10:13.760 And I think God had me race and the tie and everything.
00:10:16.840 I think that happened for a reason, really.
00:10:18.560 But it's so powerful when you just don't compete.
00:10:22.440 And I wish more people would realize that, more young girls, even more male athletes.
00:10:27.940 We need men to take a stand on this as well.
00:10:30.160 And so what you did, what you continue to do, I think is so incredibly admirable.
00:10:35.380 You're one of the very few who are willing to really make that sacrifice.
00:10:39.420 Because you talked about the work you put in.
00:10:41.020 You talk about the diet and the sleep and all those different things.
00:10:44.900 Yet you were willing to step down because you knew, you saw what was at stake if you did it.
00:10:48.840 If you went with it, if you smiled and stepped aside and allowed to really stomp on you guys.
00:10:56.500 Humiliation, and it's not because, you know, I mean, it's a humiliating thing, not to mention
00:11:02.220 the locker room.
00:11:02.820 There's a lot of different aspects of this where it's just utter violation and an utter
00:11:06.400 disregard for women. 0.95
00:11:08.160 But you took a stand, which I think is awesome.
00:11:10.700 Um, just in recent weeks, uh, in the last couple of weeks we've seen now, it really got national
00:11:17.180 news, which is actually kind of helpful to the cause now that this has become a bigger
00:11:22.600 story.
00:11:23.440 Um, we have seen, and, and we have seen how he broke a Canadian national record.
00:11:28.720 Um, we saw, I believe what I read was an unofficial world record in this women's division of power 1.00
00:11:35.560 lifting.
00:11:35.900 And so can you, can you walk us through that, just what this means, because I know there was
00:11:40.160 a couple misprints in some articles as well, saying that, and one by 210 pounds, no, and
00:11:45.600 one by 210 kilos, which is top 2.2 times, whatever that 210, it's like 460 pounds.
00:11:55.380 Um, so talk us through that and really what that, what that means on the bigger scale of power
00:11:59.420 lifting.
00:11:59.720 Yeah.
00:12:00.760 So that was like, I think it was last Sunday that was at the Western regionals and I competed
00:12:07.040 three days before Anne was supposed to compete.
00:12:10.900 Now I was really hoping to get my deadlift because if I got my deadlift of 513 or 12 pounds,
00:12:18.360 I knew Anne was going to break that three days later. 0.99
00:12:20.820 And I was like, it would have looked great if he actually took my record, but I didn't get
00:12:25.280 it, but it didn't really matter because he went and just crushed it at the regionals.
00:12:29.880 He, he actually holds every single record in the province of Alberta.
00:12:34.700 So ages 20 to 40 now between 40 and 50.
00:12:39.960 Now keep in mind, we didn't actually think that Anne was going to go into the masters.
00:12:44.540 It's comparable.
00:12:45.480 And I know this sounds bad.
00:12:46.780 It's almost like, it's so bad of him to do that.
00:12:49.160 It's almost like going into the Paralympics and crushing it because like, look at that
00:12:53.540 large margin, 500 pounds.
00:12:55.640 It's just despicable.
00:12:58.200 I'll use that word despicable.
00:13:00.780 And he's always been talking like, Oh, I'm not out for records.
00:13:03.940 I don't care.
00:13:04.780 I'm just doing this for fun.
00:13:06.020 Really?
00:13:06.680 He's about, he wants to dominate and he wants all the records because he now has all the
00:13:10.820 records.
00:13:11.140 So, but I honestly think that was the best thing that could have happened.
00:13:15.540 And everyone said it, just let Anne go in and take the records. 1.00
00:13:20.020 And then the very next day I was on like Pierce Morgan show, it blew up.
00:13:24.800 And then same week, a week later, we got this news from the IPF, the International Powerlifting
00:13:30.980 Federation that, who I've been working with for like probably a year now, stating that they're
00:13:37.860 changing the policy.
00:13:39.000 So it was perfect timing for everything, to be honest.
00:13:42.420 It's sad that it has to happen and those records, I hope, and should go back to the
00:13:47.940 rightful owners.
00:13:48.780 Those records should be stripped.
00:13:50.700 I'm not going to work on that now.
00:13:52.260 I'm just going to take this win for now, but that definitely has to happen.
00:13:57.080 But yeah, it was the competitors on that, at that day on Sunday at the competition, three
00:14:05.160 of them dropped out.
00:14:06.920 One person cut weight so they didn't have to compete against Anne. 1.00
00:14:10.180 One, my friend, Christine, she dropped down to the open category.
00:14:14.900 Another woman just quit. 1.00
00:14:16.460 And one woman on the podium had no idea that Anne was a man.
00:14:19.860 So you talk about people clapping and going along with it.
00:14:24.000 Some people, honestly, Riley, don't even know what a transgender is. 0.56
00:14:27.380 It's really, people don't know.
00:14:29.320 People do clap because they're clueless.
00:14:31.080 And it's almost like when you did your race against Leah, it's like it was so new to you
00:14:37.840 that you, honestly, a lot of people go along with it because we're so, as women, we're
00:14:42.560 so damn polite.
00:14:43.760 And we're just like, oh my God, we don't, you know what I mean? 0.89
00:14:46.740 And times are changing.
00:14:48.020 It's not like that anymore.
00:14:49.360 So.
00:14:49.380 No, totally.
00:14:51.300 A couple things there.
00:14:52.280 One, I think it's really interesting that you say, Anne, you know, he said, I'm not doing
00:14:56.720 this for the records.
00:14:57.720 Well, how incredible that you, that you're essentially saying you don't even have to
00:15:01.860 necessarily try your hardest yet.
00:15:03.840 You're still dominating.
00:15:05.080 You're still, I guess, in terms of in swimming lingo, blowing everyone out of the water.
00:15:09.800 That that's incredibly impressive, shall we say?
00:15:12.120 Or I guess really it's, it's not.
00:15:13.660 But, um, but another thing that I've, of course, you've known about Anne for several
00:15:20.980 years now, and I found out about Anne really through you, um, when we became friends and
00:15:26.600 we started intermingling about the different scenarios and how it pertains to the different
00:15:30.700 sports and across the globe.
00:15:32.460 And you sent me this video of Anne really mocking women. 1.00
00:15:39.440 Um, and so we're going to play that clip here.
00:15:43.660 Um, why is women's bench so bad? 1.00
00:15:50.320 I mean, not compared to me.
00:15:51.840 We all know that I'm a tranny freak, so that doesn't count. 0.81
00:15:55.940 And no, we're not talking about Mackenzie Lee.
00:15:57.700 She's got little T-Rex arms and she's like 400 pounds of chest muscle, apparently. 1.00
00:16:04.380 I mean, standard bench in powerlifting competition for women.
00:16:09.160 I literally don't understand why it's so bad.
00:16:13.660 If you just listen to that in its entirety, you hear this man, first of all, he acknowledges,
00:16:21.680 you know, he says, I'm, I'm a tranny freak, which I think is an interesting way to refer 1.00
00:16:25.640 to yourself.
00:16:26.940 Um, but secondly, he says, now why is women's bench so bad?
00:16:32.260 I literally don't understand why it's so bad.
00:16:35.380 Uh, what's your, what's your response to that?
00:16:38.980 Yeah.
00:16:39.400 So, I mean, that, I know that, that video went viral.
00:16:44.320 And I mean, that's not the first, that was the very first time that he publicly kind of
00:16:49.400 mocked women, but he has continuously mocked women, um, since then.
00:16:53.700 But making a statement like that, that his, his five-year-old can bench more than some
00:16:58.920 women, I mean, that goes to show you just that he's a man, you know what I mean? 0.86
00:17:04.560 That just goes to show you the, the major biological advantages that he has.
00:17:11.220 Bench press is always the hardest lift for a woman. 1.00
00:17:15.300 It's, we don't have that chest strength.
00:17:17.980 We don't have the build for that.
00:17:20.320 So for him to have a 300 pound bench press is crazy.
00:17:25.480 I mean, people, women have it, but I'm talking about women that have trained like world champions 1.00
00:17:30.160 for years, like 10 years or more.
00:17:32.840 Um, so it's, it's just crazy that he actually mocked his own members, like his own teammates.
00:17:39.940 Um, yeah, it's, I mean, it doesn't, doesn't really surprise me coming from a, 1.00
00:17:45.300 from him to be honest, that kind of, that kind of hate.
00:17:47.940 So I think it, um, again, outside of even just our, I guess our biological physiological differences,
00:17:55.660 I think this shows the innate differences that we have within our characteristics as
00:18:00.940 men and women.
00:18:02.000 Um, as you mentioned, women, we tend to be more agreeable. 0.99
00:18:05.160 We tend to be more emotionally involved and apologetic and compassionate and all those
00:18:10.320 different things.
00:18:10.960 But men, they tend to assert more dominance.
00:18:15.400 They tend to be more aggressive and, and agenic. 0.98
00:18:19.560 And I think that's what we see when we, when we listen to and say what he said about women
00:18:24.740 and women's bench. 1.00
00:18:25.380 I think that's, um, disgusting to put it totally frank.
00:18:29.580 You talked about the IPF rules very, uh, a few minutes ago.
00:18:34.340 And so I want you to go into what this is, cause this is new news.
00:18:38.340 And I, I don't think people realize, but this is exciting news.
00:18:42.180 It is a little win.
00:18:43.640 Um, so can you talk about what the IPF is and what this ruling means for power lifters?
00:18:49.480 Um, and, and what capacity is this global?
00:18:52.480 Is this, what does it look like?
00:18:54.500 Yeah.
00:18:54.900 I mean, I would call it, um, like a, yeah, like a little baby win for right now.
00:19:00.340 Um, so they announced yesterday.
00:19:03.300 Well, no, it was actually, I knew this was coming like months prior to them actually announcing
00:19:08.060 this.
00:19:08.360 So I was waiting eagerly.
00:19:10.080 I was like, oh my God, please.
00:19:11.600 I just, I couldn't wait.
00:19:12.500 So it was actually, I wonder if they waited for Anne to go and take the records.
00:19:17.760 Like maybe they timed it.
00:19:19.020 I'm not quite sure, but it came out yesterday that the IPF, uh, emailed the CPU basically
00:19:26.340 with a letter stating that you must align with the IPF transgender policy or you will be suspended.
00:19:33.740 So basically kicked out of, you won't be able to compete internationally or go to worlds
00:19:38.820 or, um, anything like that.
00:19:40.660 So what, what their policy is, is basically you've probably seen it a lot.
00:19:45.680 Um, I think cycling had it prior maybe, but it's testosterone monitoring of 2.4 nanomoles,
00:19:52.960 um, or lower.
00:19:54.440 And basically this policy is very strict.
00:20:00.360 I know people look at it and go, oh, you know, women aren't a hormone level. 1.00
00:20:03.740 I understand.
00:20:04.820 I totally agree with you on that one.
00:20:06.360 The best policy is to obviously make men lift with men, women with women. 1.00
00:20:10.920 We would love that.
00:20:11.760 Right.
00:20:12.460 But still this policy is still stepping up and protecting women because it is a very hard,
00:20:18.440 um, almost a grueling process to get through.
00:20:21.140 Like you have to be monitored for a year, then apply.
00:20:24.820 You have to be approved by chief medical staff because you might not even get approved.
00:20:30.480 And then they might say, no, sorry, we want to be monitored for another year before you
00:20:34.360 can apply.
00:20:35.760 When you apply, if you get approved, I think there's actually a psychological assessment,
00:20:40.560 uh, component involved, um, continuous monitoring, blood work.
00:20:45.740 Like the list goes on.
00:20:47.800 I don't think if Ann goes through with it, it'd be another four years before he can actually
00:20:53.600 compete again.
00:20:54.280 So it's really the first time this federation has prioritized fairness, um, because before
00:21:00.700 this, they were prioritizing inclusion.
00:21:03.980 Um, it's a bold first step.
00:21:06.300 We've seen this with FINA.
00:21:07.700 We've seen this with world athletics and cycling, um, the policies they're creating.
00:21:11.760 It's a bold first step, but it's not necessarily satisfactory.
00:21:15.480 And so, as you mentioned, um, I totally agree.
00:21:18.560 We, as women, we're more than a testosterone level, but we do have to celebrate the literal 0.79
00:21:23.460 victories when we're given them.
00:21:25.240 It's what keeps us motivated to continuing on to fight this, this bigger picture, which
00:21:29.920 is of course a broader war on women that actually extends beyond just sports.
00:21:34.780 And so, um, that's incredible news.
00:21:36.920 And I couldn't be more grateful for your involvement there.
00:21:40.040 Um, and really just how resilient you've been.
00:21:42.740 And, and of course, unapologetic.
00:21:44.020 I think that's, as I mentioned, just extremely admirable.
00:21:47.840 What about here in the U S?
00:21:49.600 Um, I know, talk about the president here, the, the U S powerlifting president.
00:21:56.380 Um, he's one of the few, one of the few coaches, especially who have really taken a stance against
00:22:03.360 this.
00:22:03.700 And so can you talk about Larry, um, and what this really looks like for the U S, especially
00:22:08.080 as it pertains to, um, the legal situation surrounding the state of Minnesota?
00:22:14.520 Yeah.
00:22:14.980 So I really have to commend Larry and you met him too, when we were in Texas.
00:22:18.880 And I think he was at the, uh, the summit to the conference, the other thing too, in
00:22:22.960 Denver.
00:22:23.680 And what a great man.
00:22:25.400 I mean, anytime I meet a man that actually steps up and speaks out, it's just like, I think
00:22:30.440 you and me and Marcia are the same, it's just like, wow, like this is so great.
00:22:33.520 My boyfriend is the same way.
00:22:36.160 He has three girls and his three girls don't actually agree with us, but he said like, look
00:22:41.540 at, we're protecting your future in sports.
00:22:44.340 They don't see it now, but anyways, he's very vocal, which I love about him, but no, this
00:22:50.180 definitely helps Larry and his case.
00:22:52.000 Like, I don't know a lot of the details.
00:22:54.540 I've heard a lot of different things.
00:22:56.040 Like, um, I don't really want to say too much because I don't, I don't know anything
00:22:59.320 about the judge.
00:23:00.640 Um, I've heard things about the judge and anyways, it just helps because, and that's
00:23:07.020 why you talk about a small win, because even though it's not the perfect policy, this sets
00:23:11.800 precedence for other federations to follow.
00:23:14.400 So this is going to affect Larry's case because here you have Canada, which is the most lenient
00:23:20.940 country with policies.
00:23:22.320 They push inclusion anywhere you go, which I believe in inclusion, but not when it comes
00:23:27.040 to sports.
00:23:27.740 So if Canada can do this, you know what I mean?
00:23:31.900 That could show that obviously Minnesota and the States should be doing it too.
00:23:36.560 Right.
00:23:37.080 So no, I think it's going to help this case tremendously for sure.
00:23:40.600 It's a good, it's a great example.
00:23:42.540 I mean, the CPU is the only federation that actually has an inclusion policy.
00:23:46.880 All the other powerlifting federations in Canada have testosterone monitoring.
00:23:50.740 So yeah, it was crazy.
00:23:52.860 You mentioned the policies in Canada.
00:23:58.060 What does the state of Canada look like right now?
00:24:01.180 Because unfortunately, I think you guys have kind of become the butt of a lot of jokes.
00:24:08.060 Um, we see a lot of videos of what's happening in Canada as it pertains to, again, not just
00:24:12.940 sports.
00:24:13.240 We see what's happening in the education system.
00:24:15.200 We see what's happening, um, in your political sphere up there.
00:24:18.220 We see Justin Trudeau, um, all of these different things.
00:24:21.440 What does Canada look like right now?
00:24:24.640 Oh, Canada is, yeah, it's the laughing stock of the world right now.
00:24:29.040 It's honestly the only reason why it's, I used to be proud to be a Canadian.
00:24:34.560 I was always like, oh my God, this is the best country.
00:24:38.400 But ever since Justin Trudeau came in and just basically ruined what a beautiful country
00:24:44.840 we had, um, you know, just pushing and pushing his ideology on, it doesn't matter what it is.
00:24:51.300 It's just, he's just pushing it at every kind of thing.
00:24:53.560 It doesn't even have to be sports.
00:24:55.380 The education, the education system.
00:24:57.800 Yes.
00:24:58.160 For, you know, I'm, I'm concerned.
00:24:59.880 I have a niece.
00:25:00.680 She's six years old.
00:25:01.920 I'm constantly asking her mother, what is she learning in school?
00:25:05.980 Like, what are they teaching her?
00:25:07.860 I've seen books with like, I don't know if it's grade four, the, the curriculum, like talking
00:25:13.840 about sex positions and books showing kids like, oh, it's just, it's crazy.
00:25:19.280 But I mean, that's a separate topic.
00:25:22.220 Um, but I will say myself, I'm very passionate about that topic too.
00:25:27.620 And also women's spaces because I'm a sexual abuse survivor.
00:25:32.080 So I know that when I was sexually abused, when I was six years old, like I had no clue
00:25:38.600 what sex was, what body parts were, anything like that.
00:25:41.740 But when I was sexually abused by my neighbor, after that happened, I went around and I was 0.73
00:25:47.440 very promiscuous.
00:25:48.580 I always wanted to play with all the kids.
00:25:50.620 You know what I mean?
00:25:51.320 Because I was exposed to it.
00:25:53.600 If I was never exposed to that, I would never even have done that or wanted to be involved
00:25:59.880 in that.
00:26:00.460 So that's what's happening in these schools is like, I know they call it grooming, but
00:26:05.080 essentially that's what it is.
00:26:06.880 They're putting this buffet of sexual like orientations and, and teaching about the body 0.98
00:26:14.440 and all this other stuff to kids that shouldn't be doing this.
00:26:17.320 They should be outside playing, doing sports.
00:26:21.060 I didn't learn any of that until probably grade eight or even in high school, but we didn't
00:26:26.080 even teach.
00:26:26.620 They didn't teach us about that.
00:26:27.680 It was like basically STDs straight up sex education.
00:26:31.960 So, I mean, people are speaking up now, like, especially the Muslim community.
00:26:38.260 I mean, we have a bunch of protests coming up in Ottawa and other cities where the Muslim
00:26:43.640 community are really voicing their concerns and being loud about it.
00:26:47.760 And it's great.
00:26:48.460 Not just the Muslims too. 0.87
00:26:49.600 I mean, everyone.
00:26:51.060 So, I mean, people are sick of it.
00:26:52.780 People are sick of Trudeau.
00:26:54.320 So, he has literally single-handedly ruined Canada.
00:26:58.560 You mentioned speaking up.
00:27:01.740 Wrapping up here, why is this important to speak up?
00:27:05.520 Why is this something you're passionate about?
00:27:07.760 And really, what happens if we don't?
00:27:11.160 I said this today.
00:27:12.300 I was talking about it.
00:27:13.440 And I mean, because I got a whole whack of messages because I posted the news about the
00:27:17.680 Federation.
00:27:18.340 And I thank people every day for speaking up.
00:27:21.000 Even if it's just a little tweet or repost my post, nothing will change if you don't
00:27:27.720 speak up.
00:27:28.520 And that's imperative.
00:27:30.080 Like, I guess I was kind of like the spokesperson, but I had an army behind me.
00:27:35.580 Like, I had you.
00:27:36.920 I had icons.
00:27:37.880 I had ICFS.
00:27:39.120 I had women. 0.97
00:27:39.820 I had members of the CPU.
00:27:41.800 My family.
00:27:42.900 Even my coworkers.
00:27:44.200 You know what I mean?
00:27:44.760 So, I mean, that's how changes happen.
00:27:47.580 If you sit back and just go with the flow and just take what's given to you, nothing
00:27:52.600 will change in life.
00:27:54.400 Whether it's political or even yourself.
00:27:57.300 You know, if you want to, whatever, lose weight and you just sit back and do nothing about
00:28:02.800 it, guess what?
00:28:03.360 You're not going to lose weight.
00:28:04.280 You got to take action.
00:28:05.340 You have to do something about it.
00:28:07.680 I love that.
00:28:08.620 And it's very true.
00:28:09.300 And I like how you translate it beyond just this topic, because that really is with anything.
00:28:15.840 I think there's consequences to every decision.
00:28:18.520 And there's same, similarly, there's consequences to not speaking up.
00:28:25.320 You mentioned this is a win.
00:28:27.100 I imagine you'll take some time to celebrate, enjoy, before you kind of dive back into this.
00:28:32.940 So really, what's next for you moving forward?
00:28:35.300 So right now, I'm just basically training, back training again.
00:28:39.400 I have a new coach, which I'm pretty excited about.
00:28:42.200 He's great.
00:28:43.640 And I'm just basically training for provincials.
00:28:46.060 They are in four weeks.
00:28:47.640 And then I'm going to take a nice little break.
00:28:49.760 I told Marshy today that my boyfriend and I are going to be in Vegas in October.
00:28:53.960 So we're going to celebrate when we go to Vegas.
00:28:56.200 So that's my celebration time.
00:29:00.460 I got a few days off in October.
00:29:01.960 So otherwise, I'm just back to training.
00:29:04.460 So I mean, I want to see how the CPU responds.
00:29:08.920 I want to see if they actually align with the IPF.
00:29:12.720 I think everyone's kind of on eggshells waiting for that decision to be made.
00:29:16.760 So I will keep you posted on that for sure.
00:29:19.420 But I mean, that's the only stuff I have right now in the forecast.
00:29:22.900 But I mean, I'm just going to chill out for a little bit because I haven't slept for two years, I think.
00:29:30.160 As you should.
00:29:31.180 You deserve some chill time.
00:29:33.120 April, you're the best.
00:29:34.820 Thank you so, so much for coming on and keep us updated.
00:29:38.300 We'll all be following along.
00:29:40.640 Yeah, I just want to say thank you to you too, Riley, because I mean, you've done so much.
00:29:45.160 You're like the trailblazer.
00:29:47.000 You started all of this.
00:29:48.540 And I mean, I'm so grateful for our friendship and hope to see you again.
00:29:52.900 Thank you for listening to the Gains for Girls podcast.
00:29:56.020 You can like and subscribe anywhere where you get your podcasts.
00:29:59.600 If you are a female athlete, if you are a coach or a parent or someone who just wants to help defend the female identity,
00:30:07.520 women's sports, women's spaces, the freedom of speech,
00:30:10.340 you can check out www.rileygainscenter.org for further details on just how to do this.
00:30:15.840 Thanks for listening.
00:30:22.900 Thank you.
00:30:29.900 Thank you.
00:30:29.960 Thank you.