U.S. Golf Assn. Will Now Accept Transgenders in Competition
by James L. Lambert
April 8, 2005
(AgapePress) - A professional golf association in America has adopted guidelines that open the door for athletes who were once the opposite sex to compete for championships.
The United States Golf Association announced a new policy March 21 under which "transgender athletes will be eligible to compete two years after having gender reassignment surgery." This policy was established along with "proof of gender guidelines" that a medical committee appointed by the Association will ultimately oversee. AgapePress confirmed the USGA policy change this week.
According to the USGA, both the International Olympic Committee and the Ladies Golf Union (in England) have also adopted policies that permit "female athletes who have undergone gender reassignment" to compete in their women's competitions.
Robert Knight | |
Robert Knight, director of Concerned Women for America's Culture and Family Institute, reacted strongly to the USGA's position. "The USGA has now surrendered to the decadence and political correctness that is sweeping over Europe," he says. "One would have thought that the USGA would have had more backbone. The women's golf tour should be about women, not castrated males."Knight adds that "the blurring of the sexes is a direct insult to God and athletes who expect to complete with their own [gender]."
Although not the focus of the policy change, stirring the pot is Mianne Bagger -- "a professional golfer with a transsexual past," according to Bagger's website. Born a male in Denmark in 1966, Bagger began hormone replacement therapy several years ago and now competes on the Ladies European Tour. The 38-year-old golfer claims to have prompted rule changes regarding "gender reassignment" in Sweden, South African, and Australia.
The USGA oversees many of the most prestigious golfing events in America, including the U.S. Open, the U.S. Women's Open, the U.S. Senior's Open, and ten national amateur championships. Knight acknowledges the esteemed history of the Association, noting that "the USGA prides itself in their traditions. That is why it is especially shocking that they would go along with something so radically wrong. They have a strange idea of gender equity."
James L. Lambert, a frequent contributor to AgapePress, is the author of Porn in America (Huntington House), which can be purchased through the American Family Association. He is a licensed real-estate mortgage loan sales agent and can be contacted through his website.
