In several posts on X, formerly Twitter, Rose (known outside the squared circle as Brandi Hicks Degroat) angrily rejected OSAC’s position, comparing the commission to the bigoted X-Men villains “Friends of Humanity” and sarcastically assuring her followers that she would “find the dastardly Transgender that *checks notes* entertained fans!!!” Rose, who herself often plays a “heel” (i.e. antagonistic) character, also expressed mock annoyance that OSAC “made [her] a babyface,” or hero. But she then broke character momentarily to thank fans for an outpouring of support on social media, joking that she was “probably dehydrated from all the happy crying.”
Brandan Bulmer, a wrestler and promoter with the independent wrestling brand Unified Wrestling Oklahoma, told The Oklahoman that OSAC’s gendered sports crackdown has become “kind of crazy,” especially in the past five years, going back to the start of Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt’s administration. Bulmer described a “battle royal” he helped put on a few months prior to Rose’s December match, in which a cis woman wrestler put on a dominant performance against several cis male competitors, but was eventually eliminated via a (staged) kick that knocked her out of the ring. After that match, he said he was also formally warned, and said the Commission threatened him with a $1,000 fine and a possible court date.
Bulmer also said that some trans performers are being held back by the law, because independent wrestling promotions — where LGBTQ+ wrestlers are often more prominent than in larger companies like AEW and WWE — may not have the resources to risk OSAC fines or jail time. “I had one [trans wrestler] ask me, ‘Where do you see me on the [show] card? Where do I fall in?’ […] I can’t give them a straight answer because I don’t know what’s going to happen with all this nonsense,” Bulmer recalled.
Since assuming office in 2019, Gov. Stitt has overseen a major push to restrict trans rights in Oklahoma, especially those of trans youth and athletes. In 2022, Stitt signed a law that banned trans students from participating in K-12 or collegiate sports leagues that do not correspond to their assigned sex at birth. Later that year, Stitt also signed a law that banned public hospitals from providing gender-affirming medical care to anyone under 18. In January this year, Oklahoma Superintendent for Public Instruction Ryan Walters appointed “Libs of TikTok” founder Chaya Raichik to a committee advising school libraries, sparking backlash from parents and LGBTQ+ youth alike.
Rose, who has established herself as a queer wrestling icon, comic book writer, and annihilator of haters, last performed on the March 27 episode of Ring of Honor’s weekly streaming show Honor Club in Quebec City. She is currently scheduled to appear as a guest host on the PPV.com stream of AEW’s Dynasty event on Sunday, April 21.
“I’m glad Nyla is going to be hosting that,” Khan told reporters on Wednesday. “That’s something that’s been in the works for a while. I think the world of Nyla, and that’s how I feel about it.”
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