Hailey Davidson has responded to the LPGA and USGA announcing new gender eligibility rules which effectively ban transgender women from competing in women's events.
The organizations simultaneously announced similar policies on December 4, which each amount to female-at-birth requirement for players to compete -- on the LPGA, in any of their elite competitions across their tours, and on in USGA women's championships like the US Women's Open and US Women's Amateur. Transgender women who did not go through male puberty Tanner Stage 2 (or after age 12) before their transition could be eligible to compete, though that group of potential players would be almost none. Transgender players who meet that criteria must also maintain a certain limit of testosterone levels.
Davidson, a transgender player whose 32nd birthday was the same day as these concurrent policy announcements, won three events on the developmental NXXT Women's Pro Tour, including a tournament in Florida in January that set off a larger backlash. In March, the NXXT Women's Pro Tour elected to institute a female-at-birth eligibility rule, banning Davidson.
"Can't say I didn't see this coming," Davidson wrote in a series of posts to her Instagram story. "Banned from the Epson and LPGA. All the silence and people wanting to stay 'neutral' thanks for absolutely nothing. This happened because of all your silence."
She continued, "What a great birthday present for 2024. Having the greatest achievement I've earned in my life taken from me."
In August, Davidson advanced out of LPGA Tour Q-School pre-qualifying, getting to the next stage that ultimately earned her status on the LPGA's developmental circuit, the Epson Tour, for 2025. She had complied with the previous iteration of the LPGA gender policy.
Davidson began taking hormonal treatments in 2015 and underwent gender-reassignment surgery in January 2021.
In issuing their new policies, both organizations cited medical evidence they determined gave transgender women an advantage over female players, particularly after having gone through male puberty. Davidson pushed back on that notion.
"Gets outdriven by every player in every group I played in at stage 2 of Q School yet I'm somehow the one with an advantage and gets banned," she said.
Davidson also said she did not participate in any kind of review or study cited by the governing bodies. As the only transgender female professional golfer of note, Davidson feels especially singled-out by these new standards.
"For the record, I was not involved nor asked to be involved in any of the 'studies' that any golf organization has just used to ban me, the only active golfer who is actually effected by these policy changes."
Outgoing LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan, as well as former LPGA commissioner and current USGA CEO Mike Whan, believe their policies preserve fairness for women's golf competitions.
“The policy represents our continued commitment to ensuring that all feel welcome within our organization, while preserving the fairness and competitive equity of our elite competitions,” said Marcoux Samaan.
Whan said, “We remain committed to providing opportunities for everyone to compete for a national title or team but have made changes to our eligibility criteria that reflects current scientific data and strives to maintain competitive integrity."
