“Peace out Rip Curl. What a tragic end to an iconic brand”
The iconic wetsuit brand Rip Curl, once a brave little two-man company that kicked off the whole surf industry biz in 1969, flew its queer flag high yesterday with a post celebrating the transgender longboarder Sasha Jane Lowerson neé Ryan Egan.
Rip Curl joined two other Australian swimsuit brands in a pivot to the queer market describing their ambassador as, “West Australian waterwoman who loves the freedom found in surfing, disconnecting from the mainstream, and the feeling of dancing on constantly changing waves… It’s a state of mind, always being ready to try something new, curious to seek out knowledge and learn the rules – and break them.”
Nine months ago, Sasha Jane Lowerson made history when she became the first transgender surfer to compete at a WSL event, the Manly Classic, a one-day longboard contest.
You’ll remember Sasha Jane Lowerson, of course.
She is a robust forty-six-year-old strawberry blonde with terrific arms who blossomed into chemical-induced womanhood in 2020.
Following news that Rip Curl had dumped the Christian amputee Bethany Hamilton, herself an arch critic of transgender gals in women’s sports, for Sasha Jane Lowerson raised the hackles of the American swimmer Riley Gaines.
Riley Gaines is a 23-year-old former competitive swimmer from Tennessee who has made a name for herself as an advocate for women’s sports.
She has been vocal her concerns regarding transgender athletes in women’s sports.
In 2022, while swimming for the University of Kentucky in the 200-yard NCAA freestyle championship, Gaines tied for fifth place with the University of Pennsylvania swimmer, six-foot-one trans gal Lia Thomas.
Lia Thomas, who used to be known as William Thomas, was a competitive swimmer on the men’s team but began the chemical transition to the sisterhood in 2019, and a couple years later joined the gal’s team.
When Riley Gaines saw the Rip Curl pivot she lit up on X writing,
“You mean to tell me Rip Curl dropped Bethany Hamilton for opposing men surfing in the women’s league then picked up male surfer who surfs in the women’s league. Crazzzzyyy.”
You mean to tell me @ripcurl dropped Bethany Hamilton for opposing men surfing in the women’s league then picked up male surfer who surfs in the women’s league as a women’s ambassador?
Crazzzzyyy 🤯🤯🤯 pic.twitter.com/GMvM5qfP0q
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) January 25, 2024
The post lit a fire.
Almost half-a-million views, 18k likes, 4k reposts and 1400 comments almost all supporting her posit that trans-gals don’t belong in women’s sports.
Ian Cairns, big-wave, gun-toting superhero, wrote: This is a slippery slope for Rip Curl,
@wsl and @ISAsurfing Haven’t they heard the news that DEI is on the way out? Glad I don’t have a daughter surfing in West Oz longboard events. Not cool.
Others wrote:
Guess I’m not wearing my Rip Curl rash guard anymore
Rip curl and all their sister brands are absolutely dead to me.
I’ll never buy another product from them under any circumstances.
Fatal marketing mistake @ripcurl. Won’t be buying your wetsuits or clothing anymore
No one with an IQ above 30 believes that it’s fair for biological men to compete in Women’s Sports, Riley. So, the question is, WHY does the “progressive”  Left hate women so much. And the deeper question, WHY aren’t Liberal women defecting en masse?
This is gross. Company owners need to control their urge to sell out to a woke corps and hold the ship with integrity. The people working at these companies deserve better than garbage being shoved down their throats by non caring corps pushing ideology.
How are the advertising team not getting fired for this , how many companies have been damaged and they still use the larping blokes in their campaigns. I thought they had to know trends , not watching hard enough
If true, everyone should boycott @ripcurl until they go bankrupt. No redemption for this.
RIP…RipCurl. You deny, betray and ultimately erase women with this gesture.
I’ll never buy any of your products again.
Bethany will always be the ambassador of women’s surfing in my book. The WSL is the new Bud Light. Go woke Go broke.
When Bethany made her stance on the trans-issue public, wise old Kelly Slater waded into an overflowing pond with some sage-like advice: “Make a trans division and we don’t have this confusion.”
Takeaways: Is this gonna be Rip Curl’s Bud Light moment or do you think the Rip Curl customer is thrilled beyond measure with the company’s bow to the transgender lobby?
You know my stance on she-dick.
