Hergie Bacyadan will be competing in Paris Olympics for the first time. (Getty)

Filipino trans boxer Hergie Bacyadan will make his Olympics debut at the Paris 2024 Games.

Five Filipino boxers – out of 15 total athletes – will be representing the Philippines in the French capital. Bacyadan will be competing in the women’s 75kg division, the heaviest weight class.

He is competing in the women’s division because he has not undergone hormone replacement therapy or gender reassignment therapy, despite identifying as a trans man.

In fact, Bacyadan has proudly claimed several times that he has never taken testosterone and even stood up to the Russian vovinam team in 2023 after they requested that his gold medal win be nullified because he was a “man”.

Bacyadan won the 2023 world championship in women’s vovinam, a Vietnamese martial art that combines elements of boxing, judo and wushu, a Chinese martial art.

If Bacyadan earns a medal in Paris, he will become the first trans male medallist in Olympic history. He told ABS-CBN News that he is proud to represent the LGBTQ+ community.

“We will perform better to make a difference,” he said. “My biggest motivation is my family, my tribe in Kalinga, and the people who believe I can win a medal at the Paris Olympics.”

Is Hergie Bacyadan married?

Bacyadan married his long-term partner Lady Denily Digo in November 2022, tying the knot over Zoom and legally becoming married in the US state of Utah.

Same-sex marriage isn’t recognised in the Philippines but in March 2023 the couple held a wedding ceremony and reception there with friends and family to celebrate their marriage.

The couple first met on TikTok when Digo joined Bacyadan’s live stream on the platform. More recently, they publicly supported the passage of legislation that would protect Filipinos from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.