Transgender golfer Hailey Davidson has hit back in anger after her hopes of joining the LPGA Tour were ripped away from her this week.
The 31-year-old had hoped to break into the top echelons of professional women’s golf and has spent the past year trying to gain status on the tour.
She had competed in qualifying for the U.S. Women’s Open before playing in Q-School this fall, where she earned status on the Epson Tour — the feeder circuit for the LPGA Tour.
However, Davidson’s potential paths to both the tours and the major championship were closed to her when the LPGA Tour announced a dramatic change in its gender policy on Wednesday.
Beginning in 2025, players must be assigned female at birth or have transitioned to female before going through male puberty to compete in LPGA tournaments or the eight USGA women’s championships.
The tour’s U-turn sparked a fiery response from Davidson, who took to Instagram to condemn the situation.
Transgender golfer Hailey Davidson has angrily hit back at the LPGA’s gender policy change
‘I can’t say I didn’t see this coming. Banned from the Epson and LPGA,” Davidson wrote in a post on Instagram Stories. ‘All the silence and people who want to remain ‘neutral’, thank you for absolutely nothing. This happened because of all your silence.
“And somehow people are surprised that the suicide rate among transgender people is around 50%. Situations like this are part of the reason.”
The 31-year-old missed qualifying for this year’s US Women’s Open by one shot and fell short at the LPGA Q school.
Davidson last competed as a male golfer in 2015, before beginning hormone therapy treatments and undergoing gender reassignment surgery in 2021.
“What an amazing birthday gift for 2024. The greatest achievement I have ever earned in my life has been taken away from me,” she added.
The LPGA continued to stand by its inclusion policy for transgender athletes undergoing surgery after male puberty after removing the requirement that golfers be “female” at birth in a 2010 policy change.
However, the organization has made a U-turn with its updated gender policy, which will come into effect in the new year.
Players assigned male at birth must prove that they have not experienced any part of puberty after the first stage or after age 12, whichever comes first, and then meet the restriction standards for the testosterone levels.
The LPGA Tour (commissioner photo Mollie Marcoux Samaan) this week announced a dramatic change to its gender policy, requiring women to be assigned at birth
Davidson, who played NCAA Men’s Division II and III golf, is seen in 2015 before transferring
The LPGA and USGA said their policies aimed to be inclusive of gender identities and expression while striving for equality in competition.
The LPGA said its expert working group recommended that the effects of male puberty enabled competitive advantages in golf compared to players who had not gone through puberty.
But Davidson slammed the investigations, claiming she should also have been consulted as part of the decision-making process.
“For the record, I was not involved nor asked to be involved in any of the ‘studies’ that a golf organization just used to ban me, the only active golfer actually affected by these policy changes,” wrote them in another post. after.
The tour change came after months of pressure from female professionals who wrote to the LPGA begging it to take action.
And the decision was defended by players on Wednesday, with retired LPGA star Amy Olson telling Dailymail.com she was “thrilled.”
“I believe the new policy will go a long way to protecting fairness in women’s sports and ensuring that women continue to have the opportunities in the future that women have been fighting for for a number of years,” she added.
“It took a lot of courage from these organizations, but they did the right thing.”
LPGA veteran and Independent Women’s Forum Ambassador Amy Olson welcomed the change
Outgoing LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan emphasized that the changed policy was scientifically based.
“Our policy reflects a comprehensive, science-based and inclusive approach,” says Marcoux Samaan.
“The policy represents our ongoing commitment to ensuring everyone feels welcome within our organization, while maintaining the fairness and competitive equity of our elite leagues.”
Davidson was also banned from playing in tournaments on NXXT Golf — a women’s professional mini tour — earlier this year after winning the Women’s Classic in January at Mission Inn Resort and Club, a track event near Orlando.
The win allowed the Scot to move a step closer to the LPGA, with the NXXT granting its top five players exemptions to the Epson Tour – a step below the top level of the women’s game.
However, the circuit subsequently announced on International Women’s Day that it had reversed its gender policy and that, effective immediately, participants must be biologically female at birth to participate.