Female martial artists have come forward to reveal that male athletes claiming to be transgender have completely overtaken the women’s categories of a major grappling association, leaving them fearing for their safety in many instances. One of the men, Corissa Griffith, took home four gold medals in the women’s category during a tournament in Georgia on October 21.
The North American Grappling Association (NAGA) is the largest submission grappling association in the world, and facilitates standards and tournaments in various martial arts, including Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. But while NAGA has provided competition categories for males and females since its inception in 1995, it has recently become the subject of controversy after a number of female athletes were found to have been matched up against trans-identified males.
The issue first received widespread attention in September after it was learned that a female Brazilian jiu-jitsu athlete had not been informed she would be competing against a male. Taelor Moore posted a clip of her fight against James “Alice” McPike on her Instagram, noting that there was a 65lbs weight difference between them.