Women's pro golf tour responds after trans athlete sues for being excluded

Transgender golfer Hailey Davidson filed a suit against the women's play circuit NXXT successful December aft it changed its policies to forestall biologic males from competing against females. 

NXXT and its attorneys from America First Policy Institute filed its question to disregard this week, and judge the suit volition beryllium thrown out. 

"We are asking the courts to disregard the claims and we're addressing the matter," NXXT Golf CEO Stuart McKinnon told Fox News Digital. 

"This was astir simply protecting women's sports. So the extremity was truly clarity and competitory integrity, and, arsenic a nonrecreational tour, we judge it was our work to specify those categories."

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Transgender golfer Hailey Davidson looks aft changeable astatine pre-qualifying signifier of LPGA Q-Series. (Riley Gaines/X)

McKinnon said aft the enactment updated its policies, helium reached retired to Davidson to connection the golfer a accidental to vie connected the circuit successful an unfastened category, escaped of cost, and would adjacent wage for Davidson's Q School – an annual, multi-stage tourney wherever golfers vie for playing presumption connected the PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour. 

"I had a speech with Davidson. And astatine that time, anterior to the change, I had offered Davidson the accidental to play successful an unfastened division. And successful that unfastened division, I had offered Hayley Davidson to play successful that unfastened part and adjacent a absorption presumption successful that unfastened division, and we would let Davidson to play for free," McKinnon said. 

"We would wage for Q School fees for Davidson. So we were precise generous and respectful of what Davidson wanted to do. And my connection to Davidson was simply that possibly your bequest is forging the way for aboriginal generations. But it can't beryllium close present successful this women's circuit close now, erstwhile I'm moving it, and we are going to marque the argumentation change."

McKinnon said the trans jock rejected the offer.

Now, his circuit is engaged successful a ineligible conflict against Davidson. It was an result helium expected erstwhile helium made the argumentation change, but believed it was indispensable based connected the feedback of his golfers. 

McKinnon said helium came to the determination aft distributing an anonymous canvass to the pistillate golfers connected his tour, arsenic the immense bulk of them expressed interest implicit Davidson's presence.

"We did an anonymous subordinate poll, which we had a precocious effect complaint wrong a precise abbreviated play of time. Within 2 oregon 3 days, we had 80% positive effect rate, and it was wide that the players, you know, were speaking, that they felt the argumentation alteration was successful order," McKinnon said. 

"The taxable was that it was unfair, and they wanted america to code our policies." 

McKinnon said that a fewer pistillate golfers expressed enactment for maintaining the existent argumentation and allowing Davidson to compete.

"We conscionable respectfully disagreed with 1 another," McKinnon said. 

McKinnon had to ticker Davidson decorativeness archetypal spot connected the circuit successful January 2024, marking Davidson's 3rd first-place decorativeness astatine the event. The triumph enactment Davidson successful the contention to gain an Epson Tour exemption, which is the developmental circuit of the LPGA Tour. The apical 10 players of the Epson Tour postgraduate to the LPGA Tour.

At the time, the LPGA's argumentation allowed biologic males to vie without overmuch restriction.

NXXT was 1 of the archetypal women's tours that stepped up to marque a argumentation change. The LPGA past changed its ain argumentation to bring astir much restrictions to support the women's class successful December 2024. 

Now, arsenic Davidson wages a ineligible conflict against NXXT for pioneering the extortion of women's golf, McKinnon doesn't expect the suit volition impede his tour's operations.

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"Nothing has changed from an operational standpoint. We're going to proceed to grow," McKinnon said. 

"We've expanded the circuit from the NXXT Women's Pro Tour to the NXXT Battle Tour, which is simply a nonrecreational co-ed circuit that we're launching, arsenic good our NXXT Gen Tour, which is our inferior tour. It's a competitory pathway for elite juniors, antheral and female. And we conscionable really person announced a concern with Sir Nick Faldo for the NEXT Faldo Junior Tour. So each systems are spell present astatine NXXT. We're increasing the pathway. We're increasing the tour."

Transgender golfer Hailey Davidson during pre-qualifying signifier of LPGA Q-Series. (Riley Gaines/X)

Fox News Digital has reached retired to Davidson's attorneys for a response. 

Davidson's suit argues NXXT breached its contractual obligations and made mendacious representations to Davidson, starring to wrongful exclusion from nonrecreational play opportunities.

"Defendants breached the Contracts by implementing the Policy Change that resulted successful Ms. Davidson being prohibited from participating successful the entirety of the NXXT Winter Series; failing to let Ms. Davidson to vie successful immoderate NXXT Winter Series tournaments aft the Policy Change; retaining Ms. Davidson's yearly NXXT Golf rank fees and introduction fees for NXXT Winter Series tournaments; and not awarding Ms. Davidson the Epson Exemptions she had earned," the suit stated.

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