In case you haven't heard last December AEW filmed one of their shows in Oklahoma. On this show AEW star Nyla Rose had a squash match honestly the same type of squash match she's had dozens of times now.
And before I go any further into what happened as a result I just want to point out that Nyla Rose has an online merch store with plenty of awesome designs. I personally love the cereal box design myself! https://www.prowrestlingtees.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=+Nyla+rose
It turns out that the Oklahoma Athletic Commission has a snitch line in case YOU catch a transgender individual living their life within the confines of the state.
What did this result in? Well it resulted in AEW being issued a warning at the January board meeting that if they let it happen again there would be 'punitive damages'.
Here's a quick little video snippet from a wrestling news site in the UK talking about it. (Spoilers they do reveal that professional wrestling isn't actually real.) https://youtu.be/kPsyIQpRXyI?si=t1F-MWa0ziai3W-m&t=448
Also for all you TERFs, and transphobes going on about how it's enough of a sport. You need to research all the times where it's legally been deemed a performance and not a competition. I'll start you off with the easiest most well known one; New Jersey State Senate 1989. That was the case that proved globally that wrestling was rigged, fake, etc. I know that many of you are allergic to facts but if there are some that do want to know you can start your search.
Anyhow, though I shouldn't be I am surprised that a governmental agency believes professional wrestling is.
Small update on the Nyla Rose situation, on the AEW Dynasty media call Tony Khan has said:
"Khan says he was disappointed by the commission's decision and that warning. He doesn't think AEW did anything wrong and he's really shocked by it. Khan says he doesn't think there should be discrimination against transgender wrestlers or transgender people. He (and the company) stands by Nyla Rose. Says she's a great wrestler and a great person."
So good for Tony, AEW and Nyla for standing up and behind all of this nonsense.
Hello there ! I'm Jazlyn, 25 yo and I am a PhD candidate in UTD, Richardson Texas. I still live in Durant, Oklahoma so I commute !! Here to introduce some romance in my life !!
Fuck The Oklahoma Athletic Commission, or why Nyla Rose deserves the world
It has been half a year, but I'm back. I told myself I wouldn't write another piece until the right topic came up, and it has.
For those not in the know according to this source:
https://okcfox.com/news/local/oklahoma-commission-issues-warning-against-all-elite-wrestling-after-transgender-match7
The Oklahoma Athletic commission have warned AEW "not to do this again or there will be punitive action made against them" in reference to Nyla Rose wrestling a Ciswoman on AEW.
I assume that I need not explain how backwards that is but I shall just quickly. With the amount of time I can assume Nyla has been on HRT there will be absolutely no remnants of Testosterone or other male hormones in her. But also that is all not relevant because this is pro wrestling not any actual sport.
AEW should absolutely never run Oklahoma again (or just run it again and have Nyla on the card) because this is outrageous.
I am a transgender professional wrestling fan. I am a transgender professional wrestling fan who had been having a good day. This has unmade my day. Nyla Rose has uplifted and inspired me so many times and I will never be able to thank her enough for it. AEW made a promise when they made her the second ever AEW women's champion. They may not have known it but to me that made a promise that AEW was a safe place for Trans fans and Trans wrestlers. I hope they maintain that and uphold this promise.
Some proof that there ARE elected officials out there, like Vice Mayor Sean Cummings in Oklahoma, who are standing up for LGBTQ+ youth like Nex Benedict and calling out the fact that our words and rhetoric DO matter.
[Context: In this video, Sean Cummings is seen speaking to Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters referring to the death of student Nex Benedict].
Don't look away from us. Don't ignore the Oklahoman queer community. Don't ignore the indigiqueer community. Don't forget Nex Benedict and the future they should have been entitled to.
How many more queer kids are gonna die before people give a shit? What are we supposed to do. Nex Benedict did fucking nothing wrong and they had their head bashed against the fucking floor. They just wanted to go home that day.
Kids don't need protection from the rainbow, we need protection from those who want to end our lives and limit our freedom.
Nex Benedict's death is a tragedy. He was harassed, assaulted, and murdered for trying to use the restroom as an Indigenous and trans teen. Nex should be alive. My heart goes out to Nex, his loved ones, and everyone else who has suffered.
Nex Benedict, the world failed you.
Edit: To prevent further confusion, close friends of Nex have professed that he preferred he/him pronouns. Here's an article that explains it further:
Clips from the Oklahoma House floor concerning anti-trans legislation, original linked in source
Edit: I see this post is popping off again, thank you for sharing! Reminder to our youth watching this video (operationally defined as those 14-25), @bfpnola is an international, Black-, queer-, woman-, and youth-run organization. We’d love to have some new volunteers, especially from Oklahoma in particular because we don’t have any! If you’d just like to meet everyone first, this is our Discord Server. Why not start there and then you can decide? 🫂
i hope what people take away from nex benedict's brutal murder is that transphobia affects all trans people, which heavily includes nonbinary people and especially non binary people of color. while people argue over whether or not nonbinary people are trans, we are being targeted by cishets. we are actively being targeted by transphobia. we are in danger of trans panic. we are still trans, and we need our binary trans siblings to stand beside us.
rest in power nex. you deserved better. please fight like hell for them. please fight like hell for the safety of trans folk in Oklahoma. please fight like hell for all nonbinary people. we are trans. we are your siblings, too.
you can help support queer folk living in oklahoma by supporting Freedom Oklahoma, a native-based organization for trans & queer rights in Nex's home state:
Are you an Oklahoma resident? Do you also want to try and remove Ryan Walters to counteract even more harm being done to our trans, nonbinary, and 2S kids?
Sign this petition to show your support of harm reduction for our schools
Share this link with others! Idc how you do it, just share it!