The Oklahoma State Athletic Commission (OSAC) said AEW and Nyla Rose violated a rule in December which prohibits transgender athletes from competing against cisgender athletes. OSAC unanimously decided to issue a warning to AEW that “there will be punitive action made against them” if the rule is violated again on any future AEW or ROH events.
AEW President Tony Khan was asked about OSAC’s transphobic warning on a call with the media today. Khan was surprised by OSAC’s discrimination against Rose, and said he absolutely stands by her and all transgender people:
“I was really surprised by this. It was not something I was expecting, and of course I was disappointed by the commission’s position and by that warning.
I don’t think we did anything wrong. I am really, really shocked by it. I don’t think there should be discrimination against transgender wrestlers or transgender people at all. They have rights, and to that end, I absolutely stand by Nyla Rose. AEW stands by Nyla Rose and all transgender people who want to play sports. And this is wrestling. There was nothing wrong with it.
Nyla Rose is a great wrestler. She’s been a great world champion, and I love Nyla. I love working with Nyla. She’s been a great part of our history. She was the first transgender world champion ever. She’s a great part of the AEW Together program. She does a ton for the community. She’s a great person with a great heart, and very supportive of the other wrestlers.
…I hope everybody can look at Nyla and see that she’s a great wrestler, a great person, and she deserves the same chances as everybody else. And if the AEW locker room [which is full of people from different backgrounds and beliefs] can embrace Nyla, I would hope that the Oklahoma commission could do the same thing.”
Here is what Tony said about running future events in the state of Oklahoma and having Nyla perform at such events, following OSAC’s threat of punitive action:
“We’ll take all this into consideration. I definitely am treating this as a developing story, was kind of surprised by this. But definitely want to do our best to support the fans across America and all over the world [to bring] AEW wrestling everywhere we have great fans. We have great fans in Oklahoma, they’re important to us. And great fans all over the country, and so we’ll do anything we can to support those fans. So, it’s something we’re gonna have to think about.”
What’s your reaction to Khan’s response, Cagesiders?
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