greasywheels121 Posted July 19, 2004 Share Posted July 19, 2004 Transgender golfer to play in men's tournament Associated Press July 18, 2004 FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- A golfer who was born a hermaphrodite was banned from a woman's tournament because her birth certificate lists her gender as male. Instead, 40-year-old Danielle Swope will play in Saturday's qualifier for the Fort Wayne Men's City Tournament. "I have respect for the men for at least giving me the opportunity to play. The women I don't have any respect for," Swope told The Journal Gazette for a story today. Swope, who was born in Meridian, Miss., said she was born with both male and female reproductive organs and underwent gender-reassignment surgeries to become completely female. But her Mississippi birth certificate states that she was born male. The Fort Wayne Women's Golf Association said that was why Swope could not play in the Women's City Golf Tournament, which begins Saturday. Swope, who took up golf about two years ago, also was barred from last year's tournament. "I feel sorry for her all around," said Linda Franze, president of the Fort Wayne Women's Golf Association. "I can't imagine what she's going through. But there are rules and they apply to all of us." The LPGA Tour, U.S. Golf Association and the Ladies European Tour have policies that players must be female at birth. The Indiana PGA and the Indiana Women's Golf Association adopted similar rules last fall after Swope entered the Indiana Women's Open. "Up until Danielle entered one of our events last year, we hadn't considered how to handle that situation," said Mike David, executive director of the Indiana PGA. Swope, who said she was outclassed, withdrew from the Women's Open without finishing the first round. "This policy wasn't put in place because participants were concerned Danielle might go out and win," David said. "We wanted to make sure everything was fair as we moved forward with the playing fields." The USGA put the "female at birth" clause in its entry forms in 1989, while the LPGA Tour added the restriction in 1991. The reason for that restriction was Charlotte Wood, a transsexual who was 50 when she finished third in the 1987 U.S. Senior Women's Amateur, and reached the semifinals of the U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur. Unlike Wood or Australia's Mianne Bagger -- both of whom were born male -- Swope was born with both ovaries and testicles, reported The Journal Gazette, which reviewed her medical records. Swope was raised as a boy and her mother had her undergo a hysterectomy at age 11, she said. Swope moved to Indiana in 1992. From 1995-97, she said, she underwent a series of surgeries to make her completely female. She legally changed her name from Daniel Swope to Danielle Swope in 1996. Swope, who is 5-foot-4 and weighs 160 pounds, has a handicap index of 11.2. She said Fort Wayne women's golf officials told her that they were concerned she might "overpower" the tournament competition. Officials did not understand that her body does not produce testosterone at the same levels as someone who was born completely male, Swope said. Franze, the Fort Wayne golf official, said it was Swope's birth certificate -- not competitive concerns -- that kept her out of the tournament. "That was never a point in this," Franze told The Journal Gazette. "The point is she was born male, and our participants have to be born female. That's the bottom line. The USGA and the Indiana state association go by that." Swope wants to have her birth certificate changed to state she was born female. According to the Mississippi State Department of Health, such a change could be made under a court order, though the change would have to be noted on the document. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DBAHO Posted July 19, 2004 Share Posted July 19, 2004 Oh well, maybe she can win the British Open now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngelasDaddy0427 Posted July 19, 2004 Share Posted July 19, 2004 I don't get it so does that mean that she had her female parts removed and then put back That seems like it would just be really freaky to me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted July 19, 2004 Share Posted July 19, 2004 Fort Wayne :headshake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kapkomet Posted July 19, 2004 Share Posted July 19, 2004 Fort Wayne :headshake This would be another good reason why I left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DBAHO Posted July 19, 2004 Share Posted July 19, 2004 Fort Wayne :headshake Stand up for your town Greasy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuehrleTheAce Posted July 19, 2004 Share Posted July 19, 2004 "...gender-reassignment surgeries..." God, now that is too funny! Why can't they just say s/he got his/her dick cut off? Btw Jeckle2000, a hermaphrodite is a person born with the reproductive organs of BOTH males and females - uterus, fallopian tubes, vagina, penis, AND scrotum. S/he had the latter two removed to become 100% female. The female reproductive organs were never removed. However, when s/he was born, the doctor had to put only one gender down on the birth certificate, so they put "male", thus causing his/her current problems playing in women's tournaments. S/he should get his/her gender changed on the birth certificate ... as a matter of fact, that is something s/he should've had done at the time of the operation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greasywheels121 Posted July 19, 2004 Author Share Posted July 19, 2004 Stand up for your town Greasy. Eh, this little article basically sums up Fort Wayne. I'm out of here in a month B-Town! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted July 19, 2004 Share Posted July 19, 2004 Eh, this little article basically sums up Fort Wayne. I'm out of here in a month B-Town! The college part of Bloomington will be better, but the Townies will be the exact samething as the Fort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greasywheels121 Posted July 19, 2004 Author Share Posted July 19, 2004 The college part of Bloomington will be better, but the Townies will be the exact samething as the Fort. That's the state of Indiana for you. I'll most likely be amongst the college town the majority of the time anyways. But if I get homesick, I know where to go... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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