‘Most Likely Ended My Career’: Disc Golfer Who Protested Trans Competitor Says She Has No Regrets

The professional disc golf athlete who walked off the course during a Nashville competition on Friday over her concerns about a trans-identifying male player told The Daily Wire she was warned against speaking out.

When Abigail Wilson stepped up to compete at the Disc Golf Pro Tour’s Music City Open on Friday morning, she cocked her arm back to throw, but then suddenly lowered her disc, turned around, and walked away from the tee area.

“Females must be protected in our division,” Wilson said as she walked away. “This is unfair. I refuse to play.”

She told The Daily Wire after the competition that she had raised concerns a day earlier, and was reprimanded for misgendering her competition. The trans-identifying male disc golfer, Natalie Ryan, was set to play at the same tee time as Wilson in the women’s division. Ryan has sparked controversy since at least 2022 when he defeated the world’s number one ranked female competitor, Kristin Tattar.

Wilson said this made her anxious because she had heard protests were planned against the trans-identifying player, and last year, a terrorism threat against the same player caused the Music City Open to be temporarily suspended. Wilson played in last year’s event as well.

 

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“They did a terrible job of keeping us safe during the event when this threat was called in,” Wilson told The Daily Wire. “I said, ‘Well, it is a very unpleasant thing that all of us women have to play with him.’ After I said the word ‘him,’ this Disc Golf staff member told me that if I misgender him again, I will be penalized and removed from the tour, and he’s going to pretend he didn’t hear me say that.”

Wilson said staff also assured her that the event would have police, security, and bag checks, but she saw none of that when she arrived, and she was allowed in without showing her credentials.

“There were zero security precautions,” she said.

Wilson said she assumes she will no longer be welcomed to play in Disc Golf Pro Tour competitions, the highest level of disc golf, but she does not regret her decision to walk away on Friday.

“I couldn’t keep putting my head down,” she told The Daily Wire. “I like to say that I throw plastic at metal chains for a living, and it’s not worth any of this. We shouldn’t have to deal with this as women, as professionals.”

“Today I most likely ended my career and that is okay because this is bigger than me,” Wilson said on social media after walking off the competition.

“I have worked so hard to get to this point to play on the DGPT, but the sacrifice of my career and my hard work is worth it if it means I can make a difference for other women, daughters, nieces, and the future of our sport,” she said. “If you feel how wrong it is to have biological males be competing in female protected divisions in sports, now is the time to speak up and stand your ground.”

The Disc Gold Pro Tour did not respond immediately to a request for comment.