The president of a women's tennis group in Wyoming has stepped down after the association allowed a biological male to compete in a women's tournament.
Jackie Fulkrod of the Cheyenne Tennis Association (CTA) resigned from her position as the group's president. Her resignation was in protest of Brooklyn Ross, a male-to-female (MTF) transgender, being allowed to compete in the annual Wyoming Governor's Cup. The six-foot-tall Ross, who hails from Colorado, has a clear advantage over the other biological female competitors.
"I feel like having a transgender athlete compete in the women's draw is against my personal integrity and what I believe and value," Fulkrod said in a statement. "I think a man playing against a woman is a very unfair match-up when it's specifically meant for women in that specific draw."
She also recounted the experience when the CTA board voted in favor of allowing Ross to play. The erstwhile association president said: "The people that were in the room … were upset, visibly upset."
The Wyoming Governor's Cup is sanctioned by the U.S. Tennis Association (USTA), which serves as the "national governing body for the sport of tennis." The USTA also promotes the game's growth in the United States.
According to the USTA's transgender inclusion policy, transgender athletes going from the male leagues to the female leagues must have "declared [their] gender identity [as] female." It also states that hormone therapy must be "administered in a verifiable manner and for a sufficient length of time to minimize gender-related advantages." However, the USTA does not mention a length of time or age at the time of starting hormone therapy in its policy.
According to Fulkrod, the CTA believed it would not receive USTA support if Ross was banned from competing due to the transgender inclusion policy in place. (Related: Vermont high school blocks members of girls' volleyball team from their own locker room after they complained about the presence of trans student.)
Ross later withdraws from tournament over "safety concerns"
For his part, Ross lamented Fulkrod's resignation as CTA president. He added that the reception to his participation in other women's tennis cups has "always been positive and good."
"I feel sad that this woman has resigned over this," Ross said. "I feel like there's no reason to."
He first "transitioned" in 2017 and played collegiate tennis at Metropolitan State University of Denver in 2019. Since then, Ross has competed in other women's tournaments around the nation – including in Florida.
However, Cowboy State Daily (CSD) reported on Aug. 5 that Ross dropped out of the Wyoming Governor's Cup. He decided not to push through with competing because of "national attention being drawn to the tournament." Ross did not want "'a circus' atmosphere that could detract from the success of the event," the outlet added.
"It just became more and more apparent that the environment may have not been a typical tennis tournament with things getting out of control and people’s safety at risk, including my own," he told CSD on Aug. 4.
"It just started becoming more and more apparent that the safety and success of the tournament could be jeopardized. That could impact everyone's ability to play tennis this weekend and have a safe, fun environment. I was just concerned that this could turn into some crazy type of event where people were protesting."
Fulkrod responded to Ross pulling out of the cup by insisting that he has no place competing against biological women.
"Regardless of the withdraw, I stand firm on my belief that biological men do not belong in biological sports – and in this case specifically, a women's only draw," she stressed. "That won't change."
GenderConfused.com has more stories about biological male athletes competing in sports divisions for biological women.
Watch Dissident Right Media's Michael Quinn talking about transgender athletes dominating women's sports below.
This video is from the Dissident Right Media channel on Brighteon.com.
More related stories:
British Cycling bans 'transgender' males from women's competitions.
Female skateboarder speaks out following loss to MTF trans competitor.
Iowa bans MTF athletes from competing in female sports events in schools.
Female swimmer at UPenn claims trans teammate Lia Thomas is "mentally ill."
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