Disc Golf Shuts Down 5 Events Because Trans Athlete Wins Court Case

Disc Golf Pro Tour has officially cancelled five events just to stop transgender athlete Natalie Ryan from playing after she won a major court victory.

In the most recent instance of groups claiming to "protect women" causing harm to them in a bid to discriminate against transgender individuals, the Disc Golf Pro Tour has made the controversial decision to cancel five of its events. This comes in response to Natalie Ryan, a transgender athlete, being granted her legal right to participate after a winning a court case in Minnesota.

The organization, recognized as the top-tier professional league for disc golf athletes, announced this decision in a statement, citing the protection of "competitive fairness" as their motive. They have chosen to withdraw from states with robust legal protections for transgender individuals. It's important to note, however, that men's events will persist in several of these states, revealing an inconsistency in the organization's course of action.

The events that will be cancelled include:

• American Flying Discs Open (New York, “Mixed” (Men’s) Division To Go Forward)

• Discmania Open (Canada, “Mixed” (Men’s) Division To Go Forward)

• Discraft’s Ledgestone Open (Illinois, FPO event to be rescheduled elsewhere)

• Discraft’s Great Lakes Open (Playoff - Michigan, FPO event to be rescheduled elsewhere)

• MVP Open (Playoff - Massachusetts, FPO event to be rescheduled)

This comes after Natalie Ryan won a landmark legal case in Minnesota granting her the right to compete. A judge, when analyzing the case, determined that DGPT was likely violating state discrimination laws and unfairly targeting Ryan. Natalie Ryan, who has played in the DGPT since 2019 and who has been transitioned medically since 2016, was only banned after winning a championship in 2022. Ryan has, according to court documents, always been open about her gender identity.

See important findings of fact here:

Findings of fact in Natalie Ryan/PDGA case

In response to the ruling, DGPT released a statement that announced the cancellations, and cited “competitive fairness” as their reason for cancelling all female professional games in states with strong protections around gender identity and human rights for transgender people. In the statement, they announce that they “will not waiver” from this policy:

The DGPT is committed to the future of the FPO division, and in order to protect competitive fairness for the division, these changes are necessary at this time. We will not waiver on the PDGA Gender Eligibility Policy as we’ve adopted it for the FPO division.

The announcement received widespread condemnation both on social media and on the DGPT subreddit, which has seemingly skewed anti-trans on sports-related issues. As of the writing of this article, the most upvoted post on the issue is a meme of DGPT shooting the FPO division with the text, “Why would Natalie Ryan do this?”

Most upvoted post on the /r/discgolf subreddit

Numerous observers have drawn parallels to the resistance to public school integration in the mid-20th century. Notably, in 1959, following court-ordered desegregation, Prince Edward County chose to shutter its public schools rather than comply. This drastic measure lasted five years, only ending when a Supreme Court ruling mandated the reopening of the schools. In adopting a similar stance—akin to the notion of "taking my ball and going home"—DGPT is inflicting harm on the very individuals they purport to be safeguarding.

In the future, the Disc Golf Pro Tour (DGPT) plans to reschedule some of the affected games, while others will be cancelled entirely or proceed under an altered tier. It's anticipated that the Rochester Disc Golf Club, for example, will proceed as an A-tier event. This status shift will enable Natalie Ryan to compete there, independent of the DGPT's stance on the issue, though without the same prize pools or professional points. For the women who play in the DGPT, however, the harm done to them by this decision will far outweigh any supposed harm done by allowing a transgender athlete to compete.

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