Women Golfers Protest LPGA Policy Allowing ‘Transgender’ Competitors
Two hundred seventy-five women golfers sent a letter to the Ladies Professional Golf Association, the International Golf Federation, and the United States Golf Association protesting policies allowing men to compete against women.
The LPGA hosts a qualifying series of tournaments, known as qualifying schools, where players compete for a tour card, giving them membership in next year’s tour. This membership allows them to compete in many events without having to compete to qualify.
This year, “transgender”-identified golfer Hailey Davidson is set to play against 245 women at the LPGA Qualifying Series, October 20-25, in Venice, Florida.
The Independent Women’s Forum (IWF), a conservative group that “celebrates women’s accomplishments and fights to expand women’s options and opportunities,” believes:
Men and women are equal, but we are not the same. Biological differences between the sexes are more than skin-deep, and profoundly shape our lives.
The law must recognize this reality in certain circumstances, such as in sex-segregated sports teams or prisons, or it risks placing women and girls in harmful or even dangerous situations.
IWF shared the golfers’ letter with Fox Corporation’s Outkick, a sports and culture website. The letter states:
The 275 female athletes who signed the letter oppose the LPGA’s Gender Policy, which seeks “to provide transgender athletes an avenue to membership and opportunity to participate in events, and in an effort to assure fair competition for all members and participants.”
The policy states:
“Transitioned female athletes” don’t exist, of course. Only men and women exist, and they cannot “transition” to the other sex.
Transgender-identified applicants must notify the LGPA Tour of their “gender reassignment from male to female after puberty” and “provide proof of gender.” The policy lists two requirements:
But a male athlete who has gone through puberty, even if he has his testicles removed and is taking estrogen, still maintains most of the size, strength and performance advantages of a male athlete, as the letter to the LPGA explains:
Outkick reports that the female golfers are asking the LPGA, the U.S. Golf Association, and the International Golf Federation to:
Allowing men to compete in women’s athletics is inherently unfair, as men take opportunities, scholarships, places on teams and victories from women. Women’s privacy and safety are also at risk when men play women’s sports.
The website SheWon.org lists hundreds of “female athletes who were displaced by males in women’s sporting events and other types of competitions expressly for women.”
So far, the site lists 717 female athletes who lost 1,055 “medals, scholarships or other opportunities,” in 522 competitions in 37 sports – everything from cycling to disc golf, skiing to track and field, and swimming to rowing. She Won shows the women who would have won – if men had been kept from competing against them.
Related articles and resources:
Addressing Gender Identity with Honesty and Compassion
Counseling Consultation & Referrals
No, It’s Not ‘Complicated’ to Keep Men Out of Women’s Sports
Riley Gaines and 15 Other Female Athletes Sue NCAA Over ‘Transgender Policy’
#SaveGirlsSports – New Campaign Launched by Family Policy Alliance
Shoving Girls Off the Podium: More Male Athletes Participating in Girls Sports
Third Court Halts DOE’s Title IX Rewrite, Girls’ Sports & Spaces Preserved
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jeff Johnston is a culture and policy analyst for Focus on the Family and a staff writer for the Daily Citizen. He researches, writes and teaches about topics of concern to families such as parental rights, religious freedom, LGBT issues, education and free speech. Johnston has been interviewed by CBS Sunday Morning, The New York Times, Associated Press News, The Christian Post, Rolling Stone and Vice, and is a frequent guest on radio and television outlets. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from San Diego State University with a Bachelors in English and a Teaching Credential. He and his wife have been married 30 years and have three grown sons.
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