Over the past few years, there has been a big hoopla over transgendered females wanting to play in the LPGA. Mianne Bagger, an Ladies European tour player was the first active transexual golfer when she became pro in 2003. For many years, Mianne campaigned for the LPGA to change its stance on transgender issues. This whole issue was really thrust into the spotlight when Lana Lawless filed a lawsuit against the LPGA’s policies in 2010 after she was unable to compete in the Long Drive Championships that she had one two years previous due to a change in the bylaws of the LDA and LPGA which require an individual to be a “female at birth” to compete.
Just this week Bobbi Lancaster, a 63 year old transgendered women is now making headlines as she is trying to compete on the LPGA tour.
I’m sure you all have your own opinions on this issue, and by the looks of the comment sections on the original article, some people out there think this whole situation is ‘unacceptable’ and an ‘unfair advantage’. One commenter even said that is professional cant hack it as a man on tour they can get gender reassignment surgery and compete in women’s sports with the physique of a man. Sure, if you didn’t know any better, its easy to have this opinion… but in fact, ‘many people aren’t aware of physiological aspects of gender variant conditions and the issues related to transition’ (as said by Mianne herself).
The IOC recognizes transgendered individuals if they are 2 years post op. If it’s good enough for the Olympics, I think its good enough for the LPGA tour (which it now is).
For me this is a non-issue. You should be able to compete in any professional sports leagues based on your legally recognized sex. Transgendered individuals are legally recognized as the post-operational sex. That’s it.
So if you are of the mind that transgendered individuals shouldn’t be allowed to compete in sports, you can take your bigoted opinions elsewhere. I for one applaud the LPGA’s decision to remove the provision in their bylaws enforcing players to be “women at birth”. Considering golf usual stance on tradition, its nice to see the LPGA is enlightened on this particular dilemma.
I also applaud the efforts of these three women to bring more attention to this issue which we will likely be seeing more and more of in professional sports.
So in short, get used to it folks.