NXXT Golf Tour CEO Stuart McKinnon responds to backlash over his decision to ban transgender players from the Women’s Pro Tour, ultimately giving female athletes the right to “competitive fairness” on the course He argued that the measures were taken to ensure that.
The decision to ban biological males from competing in the women’s league drew the ire of transgender golfer Hayley Davidson, who won the tournament. NXXT Women’s Classic Back in January. McKinnon spoke about the controversial decision and how it was made during “Fox & Friends Weekend.”
“We did not make this decision lightly,” McKinnon told co-host Will Cain on Sunday. I knew that,” he said. “We spent a lot of time educating ourselves, talking to a lot of people in the golf world and the sports world at large, including coaches, players, doctors, scientists, and educating ourselves. ”
“At the end of the day, it came down to one principle: it was about competitive fairness,” he continued. “We felt that biologically males had a physiological advantage over females on tour, so we made the decision to make the change.”
Women’s Professional Golf Tour updates policy to ban transgender golfer Haley Davidson, allowing only biological women
Davidson denounced the ban on Instagram, saying, “What really pisses me off is that people think I won just because I competed. This is just like any man can transition and win.” “This is a terrible slap in the face to all female athletes who have been accused of this.”Regardless of the hard work they put in in life, they… You think you’re attacking me, but in reality you’re attacking and putting [sic] All the other female athletes too. ”
Haley Davidson competes in the NXXT Women’s Championship Golf Tournament at Rio Pinal on Wednesday, January 24, 2024 in Orlando, Florida. Davidson is a transgender golfer who has faced criticism from people who say she is destroying the game. (Fox News Digital)
McKinnon said the decision was made on International Women’s Day on Friday and after consulting with players on the matter. He said the “overwhelming feedback” was that female athletes preferred to compete only against biological women.
“I’m a father of five daughters,” McKinnon said. “Growing up in the sports world, we have categories, and we also have categories based on gender, and this is really about defending those categories. Additionally, we listened to players on tour. Anonymous We conducted a player pool and received overwhelming feedback.”They asked us to change our gender policy guidelines. ”
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“When Hayley Davidson won, we got a lot more feedback from players on tour saying they’re not going to play anymore, and other players they know are on tour because of us. “We were told that we did not have gender policy guidelines,” he continued.
Following massive backlash, the women’s tour issued a statement clarifying its decision.
LPGA tee markers seen during the final round of the LPGA Qualifying Tournament at LPGA International on December 4, 2005 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Scott Halleran/Getty Images)
“The policies of the NXXT Women’s Professional Tour, particularly regarding gender, are developed in line with the policies of the LPGA.” and the USGA. This approach is critical to maintaining the integrity of our partnership with the LPGA and ensuring a fair and consistent competitive environment. When Haley Davidson joined the Tour, she complied with these policies by submitting the required documentation, including certifications from the LPGA and USGA, which also facilitated her participation in Q-School in 2022. ”, he said in a statement.
Despite the conflict, Mr McKinnon insisted the decision was by no means an “afterthought” and was based on his own education on the issue.
“I can assure you that this is not an opportunistic response to outside forces,” McKinnon said. “I just bought this tour a year ago and Davidson provided us with certificates of eligibility from the LPGA and USGA and it took me a while to educate myself. …about the process they followed, and it took me a while to learn about this myself.”
Fox News’ Paulina Dedaj and Ryan Gaydos contributed to this report.
