Pro golfer Hailey Davidson, a transgender woman and three-time winner on the women's NXXT Tour, is speaking out after the organization announced Friday that effective immediately, only competitors who were a biological female at birth are permitted to participate.
"Effective immediately, I have been removed (banned) from the next 3 NXXT tournaments that I already signed up for and been approved to play,” Davidson in an Instagram Stories post after the announcement, made on International Women's Day.
"They changed their policy mid-season after me signing up already and being 2nd in [the] Player of the Year race."
The decision, she wrote, not only discriminates against transgender women but also is a "slap in the face to all female athletes."
"People think I win just by showing up," Davidson said in the post, which has since expired. "This is such a slap in the face to ALL female athletes being told that any male can transition and beat them regardless of the life of hard work those women put in. You think you’re attacking me, but you’re actually attacking and putting down ALL other female athletes."
She concluded that "You can scream at me, threaten me, throw insults at me, and even ban me BUT I will ALWAYS get back up and keep fighting to the very end. Hate and bigotry will never win."
NXXT Golf issued a statement saying that their decision underscores its commitment to "maintaining the integrity of women’s professional golf and ensuring fair competition," reports Golfweek.
"As we navigate through the evolving landscape of sports, it is crucial to uphold the competitive integrity that is the cornerstone of women’s sports," NXXT Golf CEO Stuart McKinnon in a statement.
"Our revised policy is a reflection of our unwavering commitment to celebrating and protecting the achievements and opportunities of female athletes," he added. "Protected categories are a fundamental aspect of sports at all levels, and it is essential for our Tour to uphold these categories for biological females, ensuring a level playing field."
The NXXT announcement comes after the Arizona-based Cactus Tour announced, on National Girls and Women in Sports Day, that it reinstated its biological female requirement.
Davidson's January victory on the NXXT led many to believe her next stop was the LGPA.
The NXXT has partnered this season with the Epson Tour, a developmental feeder tour for the LPGA, and the top five earners on the NXXT points list earn two exemptions into the Epson Tour.
However, the players must have played in a minimum of 10 events, averaging 40 players. Davidson currently ranks second on the mini-tour's seasonal standings and has played nine times this season.
The tour has also requested that she undergoes testosterone testing, to ensure compliance, according to Golfweek.
Davidson won a scholarship to play on the men's team at Wilmington, University, Delaware, before transferring to the men's team at Christopher Newport, Virginia.
On Sept. 24, 2015, which she had tattooed on her right forearm, Davidson started undergoing hormone treatments and underwent gender reassignment surgery in January 2021, which is required to participate in the LPGA under its gender policy.
Three years ago, she was the second transgender player in the LPGA Q-School, but did not make the cut, and missed another cut in 2022 by one stroke.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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