Transgender golfer sues LPGA over policy protecting women’s competitions
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Transgender golfer Hailey Davidson is suing the LPGA and USGA over their policies prohibiting biological males who have gone through male puberty from competing in women’s competitions.
The LPGA said in a statement that it was aware of the lawsuit and would “let that process play out in the appropriate forum.”
“The LPGA’s gender policy was developed through a thoughtful, expert-informed process and is based on protecting the competitive integrity of elite women’s golf,” the statement said.
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The USGA and LPGA changed gender policies for events in 2025 and beyond, stating that players must be assigned female at birth or have transitioned to female before going through male puberty to be eligible to compete.
Davidson, 33, didn’t transition until after puberty. Davidson competed in a US Open qualifier and an LPGA qualifying school under a different policy in 2024, and came up short in both efforts.
Davidson claimed in the lawsuit that the new policy effectively prohibits transgender women from competing in USGA or LPGA women’s events because many states prevent children from taking hormones or blocking puberty.
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When the USGA denied Davidson entry into the qualifier, Davidson claimed that Hackensack Golf Club violated the law by saying the USGA controlled all decisions regarding eligibility. Davidson began hormone treatments in her early 20s in 2015 and in 2021 underwent gender-affirming surgery, which was required under the LPGA’s previous gender policy.
Davidson also filed a lawsuit against the NXXT women’s golf circuit in December after it changed its policies to prevent biological males from competing against women.
NXXT and its attorneys at America First Legal filed their motion to dismiss in February and believe the lawsuit will be dismissed.
“We are asking the courts to dismiss the claims and we are addressing the matter,” NXXT Golf CEO Stuart McKinnon told News Digital.
“It was just about protecting women’s sports. So the goal was really clarity and competitive integrity and as a professional tour, we felt it was our responsibility to define those categories.”
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NXXT was one of the first female tours to step forward to make a policy change. The LPGA then changed its own policy to impose more restrictions to protect the women’s category in December 2024.
The News contributed to this report.
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Jackson Thompson is a sports reporter for News Digital covering critical political and cultural issues in sports, with an investigative lens. Jackson’s reporting has been cited in federal government actions related to Title IX enforcement and in legacy media outlets, including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The News and ESPN.com.