Phil Heath, Mike Rashid Respond To Internet Hate Toward Janae Kroc

Janae Kroc, who previously competed in powerlifting (record-holding) and bodybuilding, came out as transgender and genderfluid in 2015 (she also changed her name from Matthew Raymond). Although, she came out to family and friends in 2005.

But Janae Kroc‘s decision to compete as a transgender athlete has resulted in lots of internet bullying, even up until this point at her age of 46; which prompted two prominent fitness figures to step forward and come to her defense. One of who was a professional boxer (2x Golden Gloves winner) and internet personality Mike Rashid, and the other being 7x Mr. Olympia Phil Heath.

And here are their responses to the internet hate via Twitter…

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Far too many of us fear change. We fear the unknown. We worry too much about what might go wrong and seldom consider what could go right. Change while often scary is necessary for us to grow and evolve. I know I feared change for a very long time concerning coming out and my transition. I worried about how my family and friends would react, everything I might lose, and about all of the terrible things I was afraid might happen. That fear of change kept me from enjoying life fully and delayed a process I now wish I had started many years earlier. While it certainly wasn't easy and there definitely were challenges, in the end it opened new doors for me, brought new friends and new relationships into my life, and helped me grow tremendously as a person. Change isn't something to be feared. It's a necessary part of life that challenges us and helps us evolve into all of who we have the potential to become. Without being open to change we remain stagnant and unable to move forward. It's said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results. So the next time you're faced with a challenging situation that involves change embrace it and take another step toward becoming all of who you're meant to be! 🙂💪🏼 #transgender #genderfluid #nonbinary #gendernonconforming #girlslikeus #transisbeautiful #girlswhopowerlift #girlswholift #girlswithmuscle #genderqueer

A post shared by Janae Marie (@janaemariekroc) on Sep 28, 2019 at 6:08am PDT

Janae Kroc and anyone who makes a gender transition does not deserve to be bullied, but we’re unfortunately seeing a lot of this as of lately. But it was very honorable of Phil Heath and Maike Rashid to step in and speak up against all of the hate.

Kroc announced earlier this year that her new goal is to compete in bodybuilding again after she was “outed” in 2015, to try and earn a Pro card, which has no doubt fueled the internet harassment even further. But Janae Kroc is likely not new to all of the hate and will do what she feels is best for her.

(h/t generationiron.com)