SINGER Kyla has disowned comments made from a Facebook account with her name that criticized the participation of a transwoman athlete in the ongoing Tokyo Olympics.
Laurel Hubbard of New Zealand made history this year as the first transgender athlete to compete in the Olympics. She failed to win a medal this week from her only event, the womenâs over-87-kilogram division in weightlifting.
Hubbard, 43, transitioned in her mid-30s and has been competing in womenâs events internationally since 2017.
Her inclusion in the Olympics ignited a debate, with critics questioning the fairness of transgender women competing against females.
âThatâs unethical,â was the comment of a verified account of Kyla on Facebook in response to an ABS-CBN News post about Hubbard.
âThat of having a manâs body, hence, fair play is breached, because men are biologically and physically stronger than women,â the account wrote.
As screenshots of the comments made the rounds on Twitter, Kyla denied that she made them. She surmised that an administrator of the account, which she emphasized is a fan page, must have written those remarks.
âCan we check whoâs answering on that article?â Kyla tweeted on Tuesday. âBaka na-hack ang page. Iâve never engaged in things like that, ever.â
When a fan said he would âun-stanâ or stop supporting Kyla because of her perceived transphobia, the singer replied: âYouâre barking at the wrong person.â
âThatâs a fan page youâre looking at with lots of admins. For sure, that was not me. But youâre free to unstan if you like. Weâre in a free country. You can do whatever you like,â she said.
Kyla also responded to several others asking her to confirm whether she made the comments. She emphasized the same: that the account is a fan page run by different administrators, and she does not use it to engage online.(ABS-CBN News)
