Wrestlenomics has reported that a rule change may be in consideration by the Oklahoma State Athletic Commission, following a warning made against AEW last December.
The warning was issued due to the company allowing Nyla Rose, a transgender woman, to participate in a match against Alejandra Lion on December 20, 2023, at an AEW taping in Oklahoma City.
The commission viewed the match as a violation of its rules, which state:
The Commission will not approve sanctioning permits between human participants and non-humans or between males and females. A male participant is a person of the heterogametic sex born with XY chromosomes. A female participant is a person born of the homogametic sex with XX chromosomes.
In an email sent to AEW SVP Chris Harrington in January, Commission Administrator Jim Miller noted that the group was “currently in discussion to possibly change this rule,” with a legislative process required and any rule change not being in effect until July 2024.
The report notes that there is a commission meeting scheduled for July 10, with a new administrator in Diana Fletcher and a statement from Oklahoma Assistant Attorney General Mackenzie Hill responding to comment on the matter of the upcoming meeting:
Ms. Fletcher does not wish to comment at this time on the ongoing matters related to the December 2023 AEW event or the specific rules pertaining to intergender exhibitions or matches. Any actions taken to rules under the jurisdiction of the Commission must be done consistently with timeline and actions prescribed by the Oklahoma Administrative Procedures Act and the Oklahoma Office of Administrative Rules Regulations on Rulemaking. An agenda for the July 10, 2024 public meeting will be made available to the public consistent with the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act, which will prescribe the items of business to be discussed/considered by the Commission during that meeting.
Tony Khan previously responded to questions surrounding the warning, stating his disappointment in the commission and AEW’s commitment to stand behind the former AEW Women’s World Champion “and all transgender people who want to play sports.”