BillFleming
* Ace Member *
There are lots of people who think it is unfair that Natalie Ryan, a transgender woman, was allowed to play FPO. Let's look at some facts about Natalie Ryan and the DGLO.
Round 1: Scored 61 for third place. Page Pierce and Catrina Allen did better than that.
Round 2. Scored 58 for first place. Best score of the round, but only 4 strokes ahead of Emily and others.
Round 3. Scored 64 for 11th place. Ohn Scoggins scored 59 and there were others that did better than Natalie.
Natalie did not run away with this tournament, she only won by 2 strokes. And two rounds she wasn't even the best player. It's not like her originally being male helped her any.
Now in another sport it is different. Lia Thomas is a transgender swimmer. She has absolutely dominated her female opponents. From Sports Illustrated..."Thomas throttled her competition. She set pool, school and Ivy League records en route to becoming the nation's most powerful female collegiate swimmer. Photos of Thomas resting at a pool wall and waiting for the rest of the field to finish have become a popular visual shorthand of her dominance."
So, are there some sports where a transgender woman (ex-male) has an advantage? Obviously. Is that an issue in disc golf? I'd say obviously not. The DGLO was very close and Natalie's win really can't be said to be due to her originally being male. Unlike Lia Thomas, Natalie isn't setting records with her wins and she's not outclassing her opponents.
Maybe someday there will be a transgender FPO player who just clobbers her opponents, but that isn't happening now.
SI article:
https://www.si.com/college/2022/03/03/lia-thomas-penn-swimmer-transgender-woman-daily-cover
Round 1: Scored 61 for third place. Page Pierce and Catrina Allen did better than that.
Round 2. Scored 58 for first place. Best score of the round, but only 4 strokes ahead of Emily and others.
Round 3. Scored 64 for 11th place. Ohn Scoggins scored 59 and there were others that did better than Natalie.
Natalie did not run away with this tournament, she only won by 2 strokes. And two rounds she wasn't even the best player. It's not like her originally being male helped her any.
Now in another sport it is different. Lia Thomas is a transgender swimmer. She has absolutely dominated her female opponents. From Sports Illustrated..."Thomas throttled her competition. She set pool, school and Ivy League records en route to becoming the nation's most powerful female collegiate swimmer. Photos of Thomas resting at a pool wall and waiting for the rest of the field to finish have become a popular visual shorthand of her dominance."
So, are there some sports where a transgender woman (ex-male) has an advantage? Obviously. Is that an issue in disc golf? I'd say obviously not. The DGLO was very close and Natalie's win really can't be said to be due to her originally being male. Unlike Lia Thomas, Natalie isn't setting records with her wins and she's not outclassing her opponents.
Maybe someday there will be a transgender FPO player who just clobbers her opponents, but that isn't happening now.
SI article:
https://www.si.com/college/2022/03/03/lia-thomas-penn-swimmer-transgender-woman-daily-cover