Canadian Male Powerlifter Protests Gender ID Laws By Entering Women's Competition, Unofficially Breaks Record

A Canadian Male powerlifter protested gender ID laws by entering a weightlifting competition as a female — and he unofficially broke a record while doing so, RadarOnline.com has learned.

Avi Silverberg chose to enter the Heroes Classic Powerlifting Meet as a woman, in protest of gender ID laws set by the Canadian Powerlifting Union, which allowed transgender athletes to compete in the gender category that they identified with.

On Saturday in Lethbridge, Alberta, Silverberg was seen in male clothing and a scruffy beard as he approached the weightlifting bench.

Silverberg proceeded to unofficially break the women's bench press record of 270 lbs, which was set by a transgender woman.

While the powerlifter did not offer a statement after he unofficially broke the record, his entry — and subsequent win — dissed the new gender identification rules by the CPU.

According to the Canadian Powerlifting Union, athletes can compete in the women's category if they identify as female. The CPU released its "'trans inclusion policy" rule change in February, but not without harsh criticism.

Even though the CPU revised its policy in guidance with the Canadian Center for Ethics in Sport, the rule still sparked a divisive debate about transgender women, who critics accused of having a physical advantage, even with hormone therapy to suppress testosterone.

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The transgender athlete who first set the record that Silverberg broke, Anne Andres, was slammed for her comments on the women's bench press event, which she said was "so bad" back in February.

"Why is women's bench so bad?" Andres said in a video online last month. "I mean not compared to me, we all know that I'm a tranny freak, so that doesn't count. I mean, standard bench in powerlifting competitions for women. I literally don't understand why it's so bad."

The controversial remark was soon picked up by former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines, who has been an outspoken anti-transgender advocate for female sports.

"Anne Andres (male who identifies and competes as a woman) doesn't understand why female powerlifters are so "bad" at bench press…," Gaines wrote on Twitter. "Well I don't know Anne, but maybe it's because you have 20 times more testosterone than them. Just a thought…"

Gaines made similar remarks against former University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas, who transitioned in college and finished her collegiate career competing in the women's division — and won the NCAA 500 Freestyle Championship.

Gaines was supported by outspoken political pundit Megyn Kelly, who slammed Thomas and retweeted Gaines' post to her Twitter account.