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Disc Golfer Abandons Tournament Over Transgender Playing In FPO Division | Abigail Wilson Interview
A disc golfer makes a surprising decision to abandon a tournament due to concerns over transgender player participation in the FPO division. Abigail Wilson, who has previously experienced threats and anxiety while playing at events, expresses her discomfort with being paired against Natalie Ryan, a trans woman golfer. Despite her respectful approach to the game, Wilson feels unsafe participating in a tournament where protests are planned against Ryan. She contacts the pro tour officials and manages to secure an earlier tee time on a less crowded course, reducing her anxiety levels. The incident highlights the challenges faced by golfers who must navigate the complexities of inclusivity and safety on the course.
Controversy at the disc golf tournament: athlete quits over transgender player in FPO division - Exclusive interview with Abigail Wilson.
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Hey there. How's it going, guys? Hey, how you doing? Good. How are you doing? Well, thanks for hopping on uh last minute here. Uh well, first off, I want to apologize if we did get any information incorrect. We definitely did not want to do that, but glad that you could hop on and uh kind of set the uh record straight then. Yeah, I appreciate that. I just uh I watch you guys every week, so it was nice just to kind of be able to get involved this week, I guess. Um not really the way I wanted to do it, but I guess that's what we're doing. Um yeah, so I just wanted to clarify a couple things. Um so Music City last year was my first event. I had a partial tour card. Um and that's when we got like the threat of violence uh during the tournament and we had to stop play. Um so since that point, there's just been a constant level of vigilance and anxiety that goes along with that. I'm sure every player feels that way now. Um, so this year, uh, my first event of the the season was going to be Music City Open again. And when I got put on the card, uh, with Natalie Ryan, I've I've played with Natalie before and it's been totally fine. And I, you know, I'm very respectful and polite to everyone I play with. I don't try to cause any trouble. But this for this particular tournament, it started with me feeling very uncomfortable because I knew that there was some planned protests uh against Natalie and um it's unfortunate for everybody and I I just felt very unsafe uh to be on the card, let alone on the course. So I contacted multiple people from the pro tour. Um eventually I got a hold of someone the following day after the two tea times were posted and I just really wanted to get an earlier tea time. there's a 70 740 tea time available with only three players on it. And I thought, hey, let's just see if they will switch me to that. I'm still going to be uncomfortable to be on the course during the with the planned protest, but at least I'll feel like a little bit safer not to be on the same card. And...
