AliBabaIncorporated
02-09-2005, 10:37 AM
Saw the headline on the bottom of the Bloomberg TV, to which I'm still addicted ... crap it's 2:30 AM in the middle of a holiday and I'm still watching it. :confused:
Transsexual Golfers Can Play in Women's British Open (Update2)
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000102&sid=aKYeDa2UJ1fE&refer=uk
Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Transsexual golfers will be allowed to play in professional competitions such as the women's British Open following a review by the Ladies' Golf Union.
Players who undergo surgery to become women will immediately be able to enter tournaments as long as they provide proof of gender, Andy Salmon, chief executive of the St. Andrews, Scotland- based ruling body for women's golf in Britain and Ireland, said in a phone interview today.
``For one or two individuals our gender policy will now present them with a realistic opportunity of competing at the top level of amateur or professional golf,'' Salmon said.
Denmark's Mianne Bagger, 38, became the first male-born golfer to play in a professional women's tournament at March's Australian Open. Bagger, who had a sex change in 1995 and turned professional in 2003, will play on the elite Ladies European Tour this season after finishing in the top 10 at qualifying school in October. The Daytona Beach, Florida-based LPGA Tour excludes players who weren't female at birth.
``I'd expect her to enter the Weetabix British Open,'' Salmon said. ``I imagine she'll comply with our criteria and will play. Other unions and associations can use our policy as a template, but it's up to them to make their own rules.''
Bagger said on her personal Web site that LPGA commissioner Ty Votaw wrote to her explaining that the issue was under discussion.
`Right Direction'
``With any luck, it's a step in the right direction of informing their membership and an eventual vote on changing their constitution,'' Bagger wrote on miannegolf.com.
The LGU policy was drawn up to comply with the U.K.'s Gender Recognition Act 2004 and the Sex Discrimination Act 1975. It includes an appeals procedure to resolve disputes.
Golf has been at the fore of breaking down gender barriers in sports for the past two years. World No. 1 Annika Sorenstam and 15-year-old Michelle Wie took on men in PGA tournaments.
In 1977, the New York State Supreme Court ruled that the U.S. Tennis Association should allow ophthalmologist Renee Richards to play in the women's singles at the U.S. Open tennis tournament. Richards lost to Virginia Wade in the first round in straight sets, 17 years after playing in the men's singles as Richard H. Raskind.
The New York court ruled that a person, after undergoing gender reassignment, legally became the new sex of choice.
Cleared for Olympics
The International Tennis Federation doesn't have a written policy on transsexuals, Jonathan Harris, legal and medical administrator, said in a phone interview. If someone changes sex, they can play under that gender, he said.
Transsexual athletes were allowed to compete for the first time in last year's Olympics Games in Athens after the International Olympic Committee changed its rules. Athletes who have undergone complete sex-change operations are eligible so long as their new gender has been legally recognized and they have had at least two years of hormone therapy after surgery. The rules cover male-to-female and female-to-male cases.
The women's British Open is scheduled for July 28-31 at England's Royal Birkdale Golf Club. The Ladies British Open Amateur Championship from June 7-11 will be the first LGU event to have the new rule.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Dex McLuskey in London at dmcluskey@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
James Ludden in London at jludden@bloomberg.net
Transsexual Golfers Can Play in Women's British Open (Update2)
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000102&sid=aKYeDa2UJ1fE&refer=uk
Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Transsexual golfers will be allowed to play in professional competitions such as the women's British Open following a review by the Ladies' Golf Union.
Players who undergo surgery to become women will immediately be able to enter tournaments as long as they provide proof of gender, Andy Salmon, chief executive of the St. Andrews, Scotland- based ruling body for women's golf in Britain and Ireland, said in a phone interview today.
``For one or two individuals our gender policy will now present them with a realistic opportunity of competing at the top level of amateur or professional golf,'' Salmon said.
Denmark's Mianne Bagger, 38, became the first male-born golfer to play in a professional women's tournament at March's Australian Open. Bagger, who had a sex change in 1995 and turned professional in 2003, will play on the elite Ladies European Tour this season after finishing in the top 10 at qualifying school in October. The Daytona Beach, Florida-based LPGA Tour excludes players who weren't female at birth.
``I'd expect her to enter the Weetabix British Open,'' Salmon said. ``I imagine she'll comply with our criteria and will play. Other unions and associations can use our policy as a template, but it's up to them to make their own rules.''
Bagger said on her personal Web site that LPGA commissioner Ty Votaw wrote to her explaining that the issue was under discussion.
`Right Direction'
``With any luck, it's a step in the right direction of informing their membership and an eventual vote on changing their constitution,'' Bagger wrote on miannegolf.com.
The LGU policy was drawn up to comply with the U.K.'s Gender Recognition Act 2004 and the Sex Discrimination Act 1975. It includes an appeals procedure to resolve disputes.
Golf has been at the fore of breaking down gender barriers in sports for the past two years. World No. 1 Annika Sorenstam and 15-year-old Michelle Wie took on men in PGA tournaments.
In 1977, the New York State Supreme Court ruled that the U.S. Tennis Association should allow ophthalmologist Renee Richards to play in the women's singles at the U.S. Open tennis tournament. Richards lost to Virginia Wade in the first round in straight sets, 17 years after playing in the men's singles as Richard H. Raskind.
The New York court ruled that a person, after undergoing gender reassignment, legally became the new sex of choice.
Cleared for Olympics
The International Tennis Federation doesn't have a written policy on transsexuals, Jonathan Harris, legal and medical administrator, said in a phone interview. If someone changes sex, they can play under that gender, he said.
Transsexual athletes were allowed to compete for the first time in last year's Olympics Games in Athens after the International Olympic Committee changed its rules. Athletes who have undergone complete sex-change operations are eligible so long as their new gender has been legally recognized and they have had at least two years of hormone therapy after surgery. The rules cover male-to-female and female-to-male cases.
The women's British Open is scheduled for July 28-31 at England's Royal Birkdale Golf Club. The Ladies British Open Amateur Championship from June 7-11 will be the first LGU event to have the new rule.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Dex McLuskey in London at dmcluskey@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
James Ludden in London at jludden@bloomberg.net