Latest news with #MusicCityOpen
USA Today
11-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Women refuse to compete against transgender athletes. They shouldn't have to.
Women refuse to compete against transgender athletes. They shouldn't have to. | Opinion Women athletes are forfeiting games to avoid competing against transgender athletes. I wish they didn't have to sacrifice so much to make their point. Show Caption Hide Caption Pro disc golfer refuses to play against transgender opponent Professional disc golfer Abigail Wilson refused to compete against a transgender opponent at a competition in Nashville, TN. If you need another example of how absurd it is for transgender athletes to be competing against women, look no further than what happened at a recent women's pool tournament in the United Kingdom. The title match featured two transgender athletes, as allowed by the governing body, the English Pool Association. The two biological male players had defeated the biological women to reach the championship. What a coincidence. While that incident is maddening for anyone who cares about fairness in women's sports, there have been recent examples of women standing against the gender insanity that's crept into their lives. Since late last year, women in several high-profile instances have refused to compete – or forfeited a game – to protest transgender-lenient policies that undermine the entire point of women's athletics. And these women – many of them young women – deserve our full support. Faced with a transgender opponent? This woman took a knee. On March 30, Stephanie Turner created an online stir when she refused to compete against her transgender opponent at a USA Fencing-sanctioned tournament in Maryland. Turner did it in a respectful manner. She didn't cause a scene. She took a knee. Shame on @USAFencing‼️ This female fencer courageously took a stand + refused to compete against a male athlete. Athletes like her are true heroes! — Independent Women's Forum (@IWF) April 2, 2025 And for that – standing up for herself – she was disqualified from the event. Refusing to compete earned her a black card, meaning she was out of the tournament. 'I told them that I was refusing to fence because this person is a man, and I'm a woman, and this is a women's tournament and I refuse to fence on principle,' Turner said on Fox News after the incident. USA Fencing has said that it stands for 'inclusion' and 'fair competition,' but if it is disqualifying a female athlete at a women's event to accommodate a biological male competitor, it's hard to square its mission with its actions. Opinion: Trump is '1,000% doing the right thing.' Former Democrat speaks up for women. Just days after the fencing tournament, Abigail Wilson walked off the disc golf course at the Music City Open in Tennessee to protest being forced to compete against a transgender opponent. 'Females must be protected in our division,' Wilson said. 'This is unfair. I refuse to play.' Opinion alerts: Get columns from your favorite columnists + expert analysis on top issues, delivered straight to your device through the USA TODAY app. Don't have the app? Download it for free from your app store. In November, the women volleyball players at Boise State University chose to give up their shot to reach the NCAA tournament when they refused to play San Jose State, a team with a transgender player, in a championship game. Separately, there's a related lawsuit against the Mountain West Conference related to its transgender policy. How many more women will have to give up opportunities? When I see these examples of women standing for themselves and other women, I'm proud of their bravery. But I also feel for them and what they're giving up. Whether it's a competition at the college or professional level, women who choose not to compete in an unfair situation are forgoing all the sweat, time and money they've devoted to their sport – not to mention other lost opportunities. Opinion: Trump is winning for women and girls by preserving Title IX's original intent Kiersten Van Kirk, a volleyball player for Boise State, told Outkick the decision not to play was 'disheartening and heartbreaking' but that she's looking beyond herself: 'I know that we are all working towards future generations being able to have a safe place for female athletes to compete and putting that above ourselves, which is a really hard thing to do because obviously our goal was to win a championship. And I think that it's extremely unfair and really terrible that it had to come to that.' It is unfair. And that's why more attention needs to be brought to what's happening. Thanks to the efforts of female athletes like Riley Gaines, who has become famous for speaking out after she had to compete against transgender swimmer Lia Thomas while in college, more people are taking notice. That includes President Donald Trump, who has made keeping women's sports for women a priority. He signed an executive order in January protecting women's athletics at schools that receive federal funding. Republicans in Congress are seeking to do the same, but Democrats are unwisely blocking the effort. In the meantime, women are taking matters into their own hands. But I wish they didn't have to give up so much to make their point. Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at USA TODAY. Contact her at ijacques@ or on X: @Ingrid_Jacques
Telegraph
07-04-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
Watch: Women's disc golfer refuses to play against trans opponent
A women's disc golfer has walked off the course in protest at being forced to play a transgender opponent. In the latest such move by a female sportsperson, Abigail Wilson pretended to take her opening shot in a match against Natalie Ryan before turning around and shouting: 'Females must be protected in our division. This is unfair. I refuse to play.' Wilson then walked off the tee and gathered her belongings before leaving her event, triggering applause by watching fans. Her protest, at the Music City Open in Tennessee on Friday, came days after a female fencer was disqualified from a tournament for refusing to compete against a trans opponent and taking a knee in protest. That was almost a year and a half after a women's pool tournament witnessed a similar walkout. Wilson posted footage of her own stand to Instagram, writing: 'Today I most likely ended my career and that is okay because this is bigger than me.' Explaining her decision, she wrote: 'Today I refused to play at the Music City Open. Females deserve to have their gender protected division be protected. This is unfair. 'I have worked so hard to get to this point to play on the DGPT, but the sacrifice of my career and my hard work is worth it if it means I can make a difference for other women, daughters, nieces, and the future of our sport. 'If you feel how wrong it is to have biological males be competing in female protected divisions in sports, now is the time to speak up and stand your ground.' She continued: 'I took this stand today because I was having anxiety about playing with the openly trans player on tour because of the planned protests for this year and the threats of violence at the event last year. 'After speaking with a member of the DGPT staff yesterday they made it clear they would be unwilling to change me to an earlier tee time when regarding my fears of safety on the course. 'They assured me that there would be bag checks, police, and security at the event. Upon arriving this morning there was no security or police presence, I was also allowed entry even though I did not have my credentials. There were zero security precautions.' Responding to the incident, the Disc Golf Pro Tour said Wilson would not be punished for her protest but disputed her safety claims. 'The DGPT supports the right of all competitors to protest and have their voices heard, and no disciplinary action, official or otherwise, is being taken for yesterday's protest,' the organisation said. 'No rules or policies were violated. We encourage players to do what they think is right, and Ms Wilson is welcome to compete on the same playing field as all other players. 'The DGPT hopes to see Ms Wilson back at another event in the near future.' Wilson then posted on Saturday: 'If you want to help, please stand up for female athletes every chance you get. Share your voice with the PDGA [Professional Disc Golf Association] and the DGPT. Thank you all. 'The support from the community has been overwhelming and I apologise if I am unable to respond to everyone's love and support at this time. I will do my best to get back to everyone and I appreciate and respect you all!' She also wrote: 'I am a tile mason by trade. I work an extremely hard, laborious, and dirty job to even begin to afford to go on tour. 'Every penny that has been put into my disc golf career has come out of my own pocket just so I can try to climb my way to the top through merit, determination, and perseverance. Believe it or not disc golf is not lucrative if you're not in the top 10.'
Fox News
05-04-2025
- Sport
- Fox News
Women's disc golfer refuses to face transgender competitor days after fencer kneels in protest
A video of women's disc golfer Abigail Wilson refusing to face a transgender opponent went viral on Friday, prompting praise from women's sports rights activists. The incident came just days after Fox News Digital reported that women's fencer Stephanie Turner had refused to face a transgender opponent at a competition in Maryland, prompting global awareness and criticism against USA Fencing. Wilson's refusal to face the trans athlete came on Friday in Nashville, Tennessee, at the MVP Music City Open, which is an event that is officially sanctioned by the Disc Golf Pro Tour and the Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA). When her name was called to step up to compete, she walked up to the tee box, wound up her toss, and flung her arm forward, but didn't let go of the disc. Then she turned around to explain why. "Females must be protected in our division!" Wilson yelled to the crowd. "This is unfair. I refuse to play!" Wilson then took her belongings and walked away. Later on Friday, she shared the footage of her protest in an Instagram video. "Today I refused to play at the Music City Open. Females deserve to have their gender protected division be protected. This is unfair. I have worked so hard to get to this point to play on the DGPT, but the sacrifice of my career and my hard work is worth it if it means I can make a difference for other women, daughters, nieces, and the future of our sport. If you feel how wrong it is to have biological males be competing in female protected divisions in sports, now is the time to speak up and stand your ground," she wrote in the caption. "I took this stand today because I was having anxiety about playing with the openly trans player on tour because of the planned protests for this year and the threats of violence at the event last year. After speaking with a member of the DGPT staff yesterday they made it clear they would be unwilling to change me to an earlier tee time when regarding my fears of safety on the course. "They assured me that there would be bag checks, police, and security at the event. Upon arriving this morning there was no security or police presence, I was also allowed entry even though I did not have my credentials. There were zero security precautions." Wilson added that she believes the decision will end her disc golfing career. "Today I most likely ended my career and that is okay because this is bigger than me." Fox News Digital has reached out to the CEO and Tour Director of the Disc Golf Pro Tour Jeff Spring for comment. The Professional Disc Golf Association rules state that transgender players who were assigned male at birth are eligible to compete in the women's category after undergoing continuous hormone therapy for at least 24 months and maintaining a certain testosterone level, verified through multiple blood tests. Eligibility can also be achieved through gender-affirming surgery, with the same requirements for testosterone levels post-surgery. The trans competitor who prompted Wilson's protest, Natalie Ryan, first garnered attention in September 2022 after winning the women's division at the Discraft Great Lakes Open, and achieving a rank as one of the world's top five female-classified disc golfers. Ryan identifies as openly transgender, according to the athlete's Instagram page. The Music City Open marked Ryan's return to the sport after recovering from "very invasive surgery," the athlete revealed in a post on Thursday. At the 2024 Music City Open, the event had to be paused after a terroristic threat, which was targeted at Ryan, the organization released in a statement. "A call came into the event site stating there would be a threat of potential violence against a competitor at this weekend's tournament," a tour statement read. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
