Nyla Rose reacts to Oklahoma commission’s transphobic warning to AEW

AEW’s Nyla Rose wrestled in Oklahoma City on Dec. 23 of last year, defeating Alejandra Lion on that night’s Ring of Honor taping. The Oklahoma State Athletic Commission (OSAC) — which oversees wrestling, boxing, kickboxing & mixed martial arts in the state— says she and the company were in violation of a rule which prohibits transgender athletes from competing against cisgender ones. That apparently includes participating in a scripted exhibition like pro wrestling.

Minutes of the commission’s January meeting were shared online this afternoon. In them, Rose is repeatedly misgendered while the report documents how OSAC administrator Jim Miller was informed by a local independent promotion that Rose was on the AEW card in Oklahoma City. Miller contacted AEW to inform them they’d violated the Committee’s rule, and the OSAC unanimously decided to issue a warning to AEW that “there will be punitive action made against them” if Rose or any other trans wrestlers perform opposite a cis one on an AEW or ROH show in the future. OSAC chairman Mike Bower also moved to update the state’s application for a pro wrestling license so it includes a question about gender reassignment surgery like the boxing, kickboxing, and MMA ones do.

At this point, I could tell you this has more to do with political grandstanding and fear-mongering that any actual concern for Lion or any other wrestler. There are issues regarding trans athletes that are worth discussing, but they represent such a small portion of an already small, persecuted population that there are much bigger issues — in general, and around transgender rights — that should be addressed first. In many cases, it seems those turning trans people’s participation in athletics into a hot button issue would rather try to ban a class of human beings they don’t understand than build relationships with them so they can.

Instead of going any further with that though, I’ll turn it over to Rose for her response:

Humor is great, but Rose did a few more serious responses:

AEW has yet to comment on the matter.