A trans-identified male is lashing out against the New York City Tennis League Network after being banned from competing against women. Cameron ‘Cammie’ Woodman, 25, is now on a crusade to have the Network banned from using public courts by complaining to city officials.
Last week, Woodman played two sets against female opponents in the Lincoln Terrace Park tennis courts of Brooklyn and was victorious in both matches. One of his opponents then contacted the Tennis League Network’s CEO, Steve Chagnon, to alert him about the presence of a male in the women’s matches. The Tennis League Network is an amateur recreational league with branches nationwide.
“I played my first match last night and discovered when I arrived that Cammie Woodman is a male playing in a women’s league,” the woman wrote.
“I’m aware how controversial this issue is right now and I am sorry to put this on you, but I don’t think there’s a way around the fact that it’s unfair for me, or any other woman in this league, to play against a man under the pretense that he is a woman,” she added.
Chagnon, head of the Tennis League Network, forwarded the complaint to Woodman with the accompanying message: “Can we move you over to an appropriate level Men’s Division?”
Woodman refused the offer, stating: “I am a transgender woman who has been medically transitioning for the past four years. I believe in my integrity as a woman player, as I play women often… I am not willing to join a men’s league where I would have a disadvantage due to my medical transition.”
He went on to name the woman who had sent in the complaint, and slammed her as “a very inexperienced player who wouldn’t even have rated as high as a 3.0 based on her skills,” and added that he found it “offensive” that she had brought the matter to Chagnon.
Woodman shared images of the email exchange on his Instagram profile and did not blur out the woman’s name. He also publicly shared Chagnon’s email address and called on his followers to contact him. Shortly after, Woodman shared the contact information for the Tennis League Network, saying sarcastically, “bestie Steve turned off his email.”
Woodman additionally shared a series of posts further demanding action to “fight transphobia on NY courts” and stating that the Tennis League Network “should be removed from our city’s courts for violating NY Human Rights Law”. He is calling on the New York City Parks Department and the New York City Commission on Human Rights to investigate.
A spokesperson for the city Parks Department, Chris Clark, told New York-based publication The City that “discrimination has no place in our city.”
“Our public parks are spaces where all New Yorkers and visitors should feel welcome,” he added.
Laura Brantley, a spokesperson for the city Commission on Human Rights, said: “Discrimination based on gender identity is illegal under the New York City Human Rights Law. Anyone who has experienced or witnessed discrimination, should reach out to the commission.”
Woodman has said that he received a message of support from United States Tennis Association – Eastern, which featured him in a social media campaign last year promoting Pride Month.
According to the New York City Commission on Human Rights (CCHR), examples of discrimination based on “gender identity or gender expression” include “failing to use an individual’s preferred name or pronoun,” and “refusing to allow individuals to utilize single-sex facilities and programs consistent with their gender.”
Last year, Reduxx reported that a trans-identified male had filed a lawsuit against the city of New York and demanded over $22,000,000 in compensation for discrimination on the basis of his gender identity. Ali Miles, formerly known as Dylan Miles, who identifies as a Muslim woman, claimed that his rights were violated after he was detained in a men’s detention center while awaiting trial for domestic abuse charges.
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