Iconic n surf brand Rip Curl has come under fire after featuring a transgender boarder in a campaign to promote women’s surfing.
Sasha Lowerson, 44, featured on the Rip Curl Women Instagram page on Thursday as part of the company’s Meet The Local Heroes of Western campaign.
It comes just months after Rip Curl dropped former brand ambassador Bethany Hamilton – one of the world’s most famous surfers – reportedly over her opposition to transgender people competing in women’s sport.
Ms Hamilton, who lost her left arm in a 2003 shark attack but returned to professional surfing, threatened to boycott the World Surf League in February last year after a ruling allowing trans athletes to compete in women’s competitions.
Rip Curl is just the latest Aussie brand draw the ire of fans over gender issues, after Seafolly was slammed last year for working with non-binary influencer Deni Todorovič and Moana Bikini featured a male model in a swimsuit this week.
Ms Lowerson, a professional surfer, first appeared in a Rip Curl social media post in August last year where she detailed how surfing in WA had shaped her life.
Transgender surfer Sasha Lowerson (pictured) was featured on the Rip Curl Women Instagram page on Wednesday
The move comes just months after surfer Bethany Hamilton (pictured) was dropped by Rip Curl, reportedly over her stance against transgender women competing in women’s sport
She continued the conversation on Wednesday, saying: ‘Sometimes it isn’t even the actual surf, it’s the journey itself, the chats that we have in the car on the long straight roads here in WA and the campfire afterwards.
‘Friendships grow on the search and I love that.’
However, the short was met with backlash from Rip Curl fans who believe Ms Lowerson should not be competing alongside athletes who were born women.
‘I was a college athlete. This hurts because it’s not like women can join men’s sports and win. We are not built the same way as men. Give trans their own league,’ one person wrote.
‘Yeah, I stand with Bethany Hamilton on this. Not cool,’ another said.
‘The reason Rip Curl Women exists is you wanted a space for women to relate and be on equal ground with each other. It’s not about exclusion, it’s about acknowledging our differences,’ another wrote.
One frustrated commenter wrote: ‘Disappointed Rip Curl. Good luck to all the female competitor surfers now.’
The comment received a response from young surfer Mia Waite who wrote: ‘Thanks! I’ve competed with Sasha for a few years. I don’t have a hard time winning in the same heat as her! The people complaining just don’t know how to surf.’
Another supporter of Ms Lowerson said: ‘She’s a talented surfer and made it to where she is on her specific journey. Why don’t you ask her questions about who she is and her life story before you cast her off and get pissy?’
In a previous interview with Daily Mail , Ms Lowerson revealed she had been hesitant to compete as a trans surfer due to ‘fears of rejection and even the threat of violence’.
Critics of Ms Lowerson’s (pictured) appearance in the campaign wrote they ‘stand with Bethany Hamilton’
‘Surfing was a thing that held me back from transitioning due to the old guard being so patriarchal and transphobic and homophobic,’ she said.
‘When I started transitioning I stopped surfing for six months. I was willing to walk away from it to be truly happy.
‘To think that something that gave me so much love and freedom was the thing that held me back was really horrible and hard to deal with.’
Nevertheless, the proud Aussie went on to become the world’s first trans professional surfer.
Daily Mail has contacted Rip Curl and Sasha Lowerson for comment.
The Rip Curl controversy comes after swimwear brand Moana Bikini was slammed for sharing a video of a male model in a women’s swimsuit, almost a year after Seafolly suffered a similar fate for collaborating with non-binary influencer Deni Todorovič.
Moana Bikini, owned by body positive influencer Karina Irby, shared an Instagram video on Saturday of model Jake Young strutting around in a white one-piece swimsuit worth $130.
n swimwear brand Moana Bikini has come under fire for sharing a video of male model Jake Young (pictured) posing in a women’s swimsuit
Swimwear brand Seafolly also sparked controversy with non-binary influencer Deni Todorovič (pictured)
‘Obsessed with this look,’ the account captioned the post, adding that ‘Moana babe’ Jake was modelling a size small.
Scores of upset customers have since commented on the video, with many accusing Moana Bikini of ‘allowing men to encroach on women’s spaces’.
The Seafolly saga erupted when Deni, who uses they/them pronouns and identifies as non-binary, took to Instagram with a photo of themselves posing in lime green bikini bottoms and a matching cover near Bondi Beach.
‘This marks the first time iconic Aussie swim giants @seafolly have worked with a trans ambassador/brand partner,’ Deni innocently wrote under the image.
They later edited their caption to read: ‘Today we made history. This marks the first time iconic Aussie swim giants @seafolly have worked with a Trans person.’
The photo caused a huge backlash including calls to boycott the brand, which in the past had used models such as Miranda Kerr and Gigi Hadid in its glamorous campaigns.
Seafolly later denied Todorovič was an ambassador for the brand, and said they were a ‘special guest’ to the brand’s World Pride event in Sydney.