Women's pro golf tour responds after trans athlete sues for being excluded
Transgender golfer Hailey Davidson filed a lawsuit against the women's golf tour NXXT in December after it changed its policies to prevent biological males from competing against females.
NXXT and its attorneys from America First Policy Institute filed its motion to dismiss this week, and believe the suit will be thrown out.
"We are asking the courts to dismiss the claims, and we're addressing the matter," NXXT Golf CEO Stuart McKinnon told Fox News Digital.
"This was about simply protecting women's sports. So the goal was really clarity and competitive integrity, and, as a professional tour, we believe it was our responsibility to define those categories."
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McKinnon said after the organization updated its policies, he reached out to Davidson to offer the golfer a chance to compete on the tour in an open category, free of cost, and would even pay for Davidson's Q School – an annual, multi-stage tournament where golfers compete for playing status on the PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour.
"I had a talk with Davidson. And at that time, prior to the change, I had offered Davidson the opportunity to play in an open division. And in that open division, I had offered Hayley Davidson to play in that open division and even a management position in that open division, and we would allow Davidson to play for free," McKinnon said.
"We would pay for Q School fees for Davidson. So we were very generous and respectful of what Davidson wanted to do. And my message to Davidson was simply that perhaps your legacy is forging the path for future generations. But it can't be right now in this women's tour right now, when I'm running it, and we are going to make the policy change."
McKinnon said the trans athlete rejected the offer.
Now, his tour is engaged in a legal battle against Davidson. It was an outcome he expected when he made the policy change, but believed it was necessary based on the feedback of his golfers.
McKinnon said he came to the decision after distributing an anonymous poll to the female golfers on his tour, as the vast majority of them expressed concern over Davidson's presence.
"We did an anonymous player poll, which we had a high response rate within a very short period of time. Within two or three days, we had 80% plus response rate, and it was clear that the players, you know, were speaking, that they felt the policy change was in order," McKinnon said.
"The theme was that it was unfair, and they wanted us to address our policies."
McKinnon said that a few female golfers expressed support for maintaining the current policy and allowing Davidson to compete.
"We just respectfully disagreed with one another," McKinnon said.
McKinnon had to watch Davidson finish first place on the tour in January 2024, marking Davidson's third first-place finish at the event. The win put Davidson in the race to earn an Epson Tour exemption, which is the developmental tour of the LPGA Tour. The top 10 players of the Epson Tour graduate to the LPGA Tour.
At the time, the LPGA's policy allowed biological males to compete without much restriction.
NXXT was one of the first women's tours that stepped up to make a policy change. The LPGA then changed its own policy to bring about more restrictions to protect the women's category in December 2024.
Now, as Davidson wages a legal battle against NXXT for pioneering the protection of women's golf, McKinnon doesn't expect the lawsuit will impede his tour's operations.
"Nothing has changed from an operational standpoint. We're going to continue to grow," McKinnon said.
"We've expanded the tour from the NXXT Women's Pro Tour to the NXXT Battle Tour, which is a professional co-ed tour that we're launching, as well our NXXT Gen Tour, which is our junior tour. It's a competitive pathway for elite juniors, male and female. And we just actually have announced a partnership with Sir Nick Faldo for the NEXT Faldo Junior Tour. So all systems are go here at NXXT. We're growing the pathway. We're growing the tour."
Fox News Digital has reached out to Davidson's attorneys for a response.
Davidson's lawsuit argues NXXT breached its contractual obligations and made false representations to Davidson, leading to wrongful exclusion from professional golf opportunities.
"Defendants breached the Contracts by implementing the Policy Change that resulted in Ms. Davidson being prohibited from participating in the entirety of the NXXT Winter Series; failing to allow Ms. Davidson to compete in any NXXT Winter Series tournaments after the Policy Change; retaining Ms. Davidson's annual NXXT Golf membership fees and entry fees for NXXT Winter Series tournaments; and not awarding Ms. Davidson the Epson Exemptions she had earned," the lawsuit stated.
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