The world of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has welcomed its first transgender blackbelt.
As reported by bjjee.com, Alaina Hardie is a transsexual athlete that competes out of Toronto, Canada. Now Hardie has achieved her BJJ blackbelt, becoming the first openly transsexual athlete to do so. Hardie can be seen rolling with a fellow transgender athlete in the video below.
Speaking on the No Holds Barred podcast, Hardie explained that she does not believe that there is any scientific evidence that transsexual athletes are provided unfair advantages compared to other competitors. She also showed her support for MMA’s first transgender fighter Fallon Fox.
“I am, like Fallon, a transsexual athlete. I met Fallon when we both did the ADCC Trials in 2009. And at the time I had no idea she was transsexual, and she had no idea I was, either. I just thought she was like every other non-trans female grappler out there. Immediately I e-mailed her and was like, ‘Look, girl, I totally got your back. I’m also a trans athlete.’ And we had a little, brief conversation about it at that point.”
