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Transgender golfer Hailey Davidson filed a lawsuit against the NXXT women’s golf circuit in December after it changed its policies to prevent biological men from competing against women.
NXXT and its attorneys at the America First Policy Institute filed their motion to dismiss this week and believe the lawsuit will be dismissed.
“We are asking the courts to dismiss the claims and we are addressing the matter,” NXXT Golf CEO Stuart McKinnon told Pak Gazette Digital.
“It was just about protecting women’s sports. So the goal was really clarity and competitive integrity and as a professional tour, we felt it was our responsibility to define those categories.”
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Transgender golfer Hailey Davidson takes care of her shot in the pre-qualifying stage of the LPGA Q-Series. (Riley Gaines/X)
McKinnon said that after the organization updated its policies, it approached Davidson to offer the golfer the opportunity to compete on the tour in an open category, at no cost, and would even pay for Davidson’s Q School, an annual multi-stage tournament where golfers compete for playing status on the PGA Tour and the Korn Ferry Tour.
“I had a conversation with Davidson. And at that time, before the trade, I had offered Davidson the opportunity to play in an open division. And in that open division, I had offered Hayley Davidson to play in that open division and even a managerial position in that open division, and we would allow Davidson to play for free,” McKinnon said.
“We would pay Q School fees for Davidson. So we were very generous and respectful of what Davidson wanted to do. And my message to Davidson was simply that maybe his legacy is forging the path for future generations. But it can’t be right now on this women’s tour, when I’m leading it, and we’re going to make the policy change.”
McKinnon said the trans athlete rejected the offer.
Now, his tour is embroiled in a legal battle against Davidson. It was an outcome he expected when he made the policy change, but he believed it was necessary based on feedback from his golfers.
McKinnon said she made the decision after distributing an anonymous survey to female golfers on her tour, as the vast majority of them expressed concern about Davidson’s presence.
“We did an anonymous survey of players, and we got a high response rate in a very short period of time. Within two or three days, we got over an 80% response rate, and it was clear that the players, you know, were speaking out, that they felt the policy change was necessary,” McKinnon said.
“The issue was that it was unfair and they wanted us to address our policies.”
McKinnon said some female golfers expressed support for maintaining the current policy and allowing Davidson to compete.
“We just respectfully disagree with each other,” McKinnon said.
McKinnon had to watch Davidson finish first on the tour in January 2024, marking Davidson’s third first-place finish in the event. The victory put Davidson in the running for an exemption to the Epson Tour, which is the developmental tour of the LPGA Tour. The top 10 players on the Epson Tour graduate to the LPGA Tour.
At the time, LPGA policy allowed biological males to compete without many restrictions.
NXXT was one of the first female tours to step forward to make a policy change. The LPGA then changed its own policy to impose more restrictions to protect the women’s category in December 2024.
Now, as Davidson wages a legal battle against NXXT for pioneering the protection of women’s golf, McKinnon doesn’t expect the lawsuit to impede her tour operations.
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“Nothing has changed from an operational standpoint. We’re going to continue to grow,” McKinnon said.
“We’ve expanded the tour from the NXXT Women’s Pro Tour to the NXXT Battle Tour, which is a mixed pro tour that we’re launching, as well as our NXXT Gen Tour, which is our junior tour. It’s a competitive path for elite juniors, men and women. And we just announced a partnership with Sir Nick Faldo for the NEXT Faldo Junior Tour. So it’s all systems go here at NXXT. We’re growing the path. We’re growing the tour.”
Transgender golfer Hailey Davidson during the pre-qualifying stage of the LPGA Q-Series. (Riley Gaines/X)
Pak Gazette Digital has reached out to Davidson’s attorneys for a response.
Davidson’s lawsuit argues that NXXT breached its contractual obligations and made false statements to Davidson, leading to his wrongful exclusion from professional golf opportunities.
“Defendants breached the contracts by implementing the policy change that resulted in Ms. Davidson being prohibited from participating in the entirety of the NXXT Winter Series; by not allowing Ms. Davidson to compete in any NXXT Winter Series tournaments after the Policy Change; withholding annual NXXT Golf membership dues and entry fees for Ms. Davidson’s NXXT Winter Series tournaments; and by failing to provide Ms. Davidson with the exemptions from Epson that he had obtained,” the lawsuit states.
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