Women's pro golf tour defends trans athlete ban, emphasizes need for 'competitive fairness' in women's sports

NXXT CEO Stuart McKinnon joins ‘Fox & Friends Weekend’ to explain the decision, saying they knew it would be ‘polarizing.’

NXXT Golf Tour CEO Stuart McKinnon responded to backlash surrounding his decision to ban transgender athletes from the Women's pro tour, arguing the move ultimately came down to ensuring female athletes a right to "competitive fairness" on the course. 

The decision to ban biological males from competing in the women's league sparked outrage from transgender golfer Hailey Davidson, who won the NXXT Women's Classic back in January. McKinnon addressed the controversial decision and how it was made during "Fox & Friends Weekend."

"We didn't make this decision lightly. We knew it was a polarizing topic and would evoke a lot of emotions from people out there," McKinnon told co-host Will Cain on Sunday. "We took a lot of time in educating ourselves, spoke to many stakeholders in the golfing community and the sporting community at large from coaches and players and doctors and scientists, and educated ourselves."

"It really came down to one principle, and that was about competitive fairness," he continued. "We felt that the biological male had a physiological advantage against the woman on the tour, and we made the decision to change."

WOMEN'S PRO GOLF TOUR UPDATES POLICY TO ONLY ALLOW BIOLOGICAL FEMALES, BANNING TRANS GOLFER HAILEY DAVIDSON

Davidson sounded off on the ban on Instagram, writing, "You know what really bugs me is that people think I win just by showing up. This is such a slap in the face to ALL female athletes being told that any male can transition and beat them regardless of the life of hard work those women put in… You think your (sic) attacking me but your actually attacking and putting