Female skateboarder Taylor Silverman competed in the Red Bull Cornerstone event and placed second. She lost to trans competitor and biological male, Lilian Gallagher.
Understanding the physical advantage involved, Silverman posted a response on the Cornerstone results via Instagram.
She expressed her frustration with not only losing the top spot’s prize money but watching Red Bull’s attempt at inclusivity rob other women of an opportunity.
“I am done being silent. Please share. Second slide is the email I sent redbull that was completely ignored,” Silverman captioned her post.
Silverman posted a screenshot of her email to Red Bull’s Senior Sports Marketing Manager Erich Dummer. No response has been given by Red Bull.
“I am a female athlete. I have been skateboarding for eleven years and competing for several years. I have been in three different contests with trans women, two of which I placed second. At the last contest series I did for Redbull, I placed second,” said Silverman in the message.
She added, “the trans competitor who won took $1000 dollars in qualifiers, $3000 in finals, and $1000 in best trick. This totaled to $5000 of the prize money meant for the female athletes.
“I took $1000 in qualifiers and $1750 for second place, so $2750 in total. The girl who took third received $750. The girl who deserved $1000 for best trick took nothing along with whoever would have placed third.
“I deserve to place first, be acknowledged for my win, and get paid. I reached out to Redbull and was ignored. I am sick of being bullied into silence.”
Silverman calling out Red Bull’s posturing stirred another strong wave of support, in favor of preserving women’s athletics.
Those always crack me up.
