A trans-identified male has taken home the championship at the Australian Women’s Classic golf tour which took place at the Bonvile Golf Resort in New South Wales this weekend.
Breanna Gill, a trans-identified male, made off with a women’s professional golfing trophy and a large cash prize. While WPGA Tour of Australia stated that it was Gill’s first professional win, he has dominated competitions in the past. In 2019, Gill was named the New Zealand Professional Women Golfers Trust Pro-Am champion.
The year prior, in 2018, Gill was named the “first woman” to win an official women’s professional golf tournament held in the South Pacific Islands after taking home the Pro-Am title at the New Caledonia Deva Golf Resort.
On Twitter, WPGA Tour of Australasia posted multiple photos of Gill holding the prize, and even changed their Twitter account header to a picture of Gill, but were met with overwhelming backlash as users piled into their replies to denounce them for allowing a male to participate in the women’s tournament.
Some name-dropped Danni Vasquez, the female golfer who placed second, as the “true winner” of the competition. Vasquez and Gill were in stride throughout the match, and the winner was ultimately decided after they faced each other in a sudden death playoff.
WPGA Tour of Australasia quickly locked down their replies section as negative sentiment flowed in, preventing public comments. The users who had been able to slip in their replies before the setting was changed on the tweet have since all had their comments “hidden” by WPGA Tour of Australasia.
“Why are men allowed in women’s sports? Why has a woman been cheated of her prize,” Haringey ReSisters asked as one of the few users who had been able to leave comments prior to WPGA Tour of Australasia turning their replies off.
“This is not fair. Keep men out of women’s sport,” Speak Up For Women responded.
“This is cheating you are allowing someone with a known male physical advantage to steal females prizes [and] prize money that should be theirs! It’s sex discrimination [and] shameful inequality in sport, a physical activity,” Olympian Sharron Davies added in a quote-retweet.
Riley Gaines, a spokeswoman for the Independent Women’s forum and an accomplished All American swimmer, also brought attention to Gill’s trophy-kissing photo, condemning WPGA Tour of Australasia with a cutting remark.
“Who’s surprised a male is being recognized as the ‘winner’ in the women’s category… you’re right @WPGATour, real nerves of steel,” Gaines wrote.
As of the writing of this article, there are over 2,600 overwhelmingly negative quote-retweets compared to just 95 ‘likes’ on WPGA Tour of Australasia’s tweet about Gill.
Women’s athletic competitions have become a major issue in the debate on gender ideology and its impact on women.
The issue mounted in public attention after a trans-identified male swimmer, Lia Thomas, began breaking women’s records and winning medals intended for female athletes in 2021. Since then, there have been several instances of trans-identified male athletes taking the podium in women’s sporting events. But multiple cases of resistance by female athletes and their allies have also been recorded.
Last week, Reduxx reported that a male powerlifting coach in Canada self-identified into a women’s category in order to mock the gender self-identification policies. Avi Silverberg, a powerlifting expert who has worked with Team Canada, participated as a woman at the Heroes Classic Powerlifting Meet held in Lethbridge, Alberta, in order to highlight the unfair advantage males have when competing in women’s athletics.
In February, a young women’s basketball team made international headlines after withdrawing from their state tournament in protest of a trans-identified male being on the opposing team. The Mid Vermont Christian School Eagles (MVCS) forfeited their playoff game against the Long Trail School Mountain Lions (LTS) after learning that LTS star player Rose Johnson is male, and have since been banned from participating in state competitions.
While fairness and opportunity have been cited as primary causes of the backlash against “inclusive” sport policy, others have also noted that women or girls competing against male athletes would be at higher risk for injury.
Last week, thousands of complaints were submitted to Football New South Wales in Australia after a trans-identified male reportedly left multiple female players injured after competing in the female leagues. One female player allegedly had to seek medical attention as a result of her injuries.
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