Police called on 50-year-old trans swimmer sharing locker room with young girls

BARRIE, Ontario (TND) — Girls aged eight to sixteen were “terrified” to learn that they would be sharing a locker room with a 50-year-old transgender swimmer at a Canadian swim meet earlier this month, the Toronto Sun reported.

The swimmer has reportedly been competing against girls since 2019. While attending the December 1 Trojan Cup in Barrie, Ontario, she was allowed access to the same locker room as the young competitors, prompting a call to local police.

We have no idea why it is allowed,” a parent told the Toronto Sun. “We know it’s not fair to the girls who are training at their sport and some of whom are hoping for scholarships.”

Parents on site erected a “makeshift towel-tenting apparatus” to prevent their daughters from having to see male anatomy while changing. Despite this, parents said they were outraged.

“The girls were terrified,” one told the publication.

It’s all so confusing for the kids,” another parent added. “No one is comfortable. Everybody is accepting of all people but them swimming against our kids and being in the locker room with them is not appropriate.”

Barrie, Canada police told The National Desk (TND) Friday the department received a call of an “unwanted person” at the competition around 6:00 p.m. Police said they were later informed “the matter had resolved itself,” however, and did not appear at the event.

Swimming Canada, the sport’s governing body, told The National Desk (TND) in a statement Friday that "locker room access is determined by facility/municipality policies in accordance with applicable law."

We must comply with both provincial law and municipal policy aligning with the human rights policies on preventing discrimination. Swim meets are normally conducted in facilities open to the public, and minors routinely share change room space with adults," Swimming Canada said.

Fairness and safety in women's sports has been a hot-button issue for the past several years, even prompting congressional hearings. More recently, a transgender swimmer at Ramapo College broke the women’s 100-yard butterfly record last month, sparking outrage among women’s sports advocates.