Transgender golfer Hailey Davidson is suing the LPGA over its gender eligibility policy
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Transgender golfer Hailey Davidson is suing the LPGA and USGA for policies that prevent transgender men from competing in the women’s tournament.
The LPGA said in a statement that it is aware of the lawsuit and will allow that process to play out in the appropriate forum.
“The LPGA’s gender policy was developed through a thoughtful, expertly 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 their gender policies for events in 2025 and beyond, declaring that players must be assigned female at birth or change to female before transitioning to male puberty to be eligible to compete.
Davidson, 33, didn’t transition until after puberty. Davidson entered the US Open and the LPGA Qualifying School under a different policy in 2024, failing in both attempts.
Davidson said in the lawsuit that the new policy effectively prevents transgender women from competing in USGA or LPGA women’s events because many states prohibit children from taking hormones or prevent puberty.
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When the USGA banned Davidson from the eligibility list, Davidson argued that Hackensack Golf Club violated the law by saying that the USGA controls all eligibility decisions. Davidson began hormone therapy in her early 20s in 2015 and in 2021 underwent gender confirmation surgery, which was required under the LPGA’s previous gender policy.
Davidson also filed a lawsuit against women’s golf tour NXXT in December after it changed its policies to prevent natural men from competing against women.
NXXT and its attorneys at America First Legal filed a motion to dismiss in February, and believe the lawsuit will be dismissed.
“We’re asking the courts to dismiss the claims, and we’re working on the matter,” NXXT Golf CEO Stuart McKinnon told Fox News Digital.
“This was about protecting women’s sports. So the goal was transparency and integrity of competition, and, as a professional tour, we believed it was our responsibility to define those categories.”
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NXXT was one of the first women’s tours to step up to make a policy change. The LPGA then changed its policy to introduce further restrictions to protect the women’s division in December 2024.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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