A male soccer player who identifies as transgender injured a female player during a semi-professional women’s league game in Australia last month.
The transgender player’s aggressive shoulder check sent the female player to the ground where she lay unmoving. She was "unable to train until later in the week," sources told Reduxx, and "when she did, it was only very lightly."
The transgender player is former YouTube personality Riley J. Dennis, who amassed 113,000 subscribers by creating videos on LGBTQ topics.
The injury is the latest in a series of incidents that include transgender athletes injuring female players.
Dennis has allegedly injured female players in the league before, according to media reports. Dennis is tied for most goals in the league, with 11 on the season.
A high school volleyball player in North Carolina urged the state in April to ban transgender athletes from women’s sports after she suffered a concussion and neck injury when a transgender athlete spiked a ball in her face.
The injuries have strengthened support around the world for the protection of women’s sports for biological females. In 2020, World Rugby banned transgender athletes from participating in women’s elite leagues due to significant "safety" concerns.
Kirralie Smith, a spokeswoman for activist group Binary Australia, told the Daily Mail the league remains unwilling to take action to protect biological female players, despite "warnings of injuries."
"They have failed in safeguarding fairness and safety for girls and women," Smith said.
As of March 30, 2023, at least five men who identified as transgender participated in the women’s league, according to the Daily Mail.
At least 21 U.S. states have banned transgender-identifying boys from playing on school sports teams for girls, according to the Movement Advancement Project. Sixteen states and the District of Columbia, however, have transgender-"friendly state guidance" for high school sports, according to the Transathlete website.
House Republicans passed a bill in April banning transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports, but President Joe Biden has promised to veto the bill in the unlikely event it reaches his desk.