'I'm not a woman': Trans golfer Nicole Powers backs out of female-only competition

Nicole Powers, a trans-identified male, used to compete in the women’s division of golf but has backed out over the unfairness of competing against biological women.

In an interview with OutKick, Powers said, "I had to take a step back and realize that biological realities are real and competitive advantages will always exist despite the number of years or whatever surgeries and hormones you've done, and then understood that my place is not in women's sports."

Powers would purposely hold back in competitions against female athletes, saying, "So if I'm standing on the tee box with three other women I'm not going to just bomb a drive out on the fairway 310, 315 yards, even though I knew I could. Despite my lifelong transition or transition for 10-plus years, I knew that I could do that, but instead, I would maybe club down; lay off a little bit on my game, because I didn't want to raise those flags."

"In the back of my head this entire couple years I was playing in professional tournaments, I knew I wouldn't feel right if I did take awards [from women]," Powers later added.

Powers said that other competitors and coaches would say "You belong here" despite Powers telling them "No, I don’t." Powers added, "They still are continuing to try to force the agenda that, ‘You’re a trans woman; we're going to keep championing you in women's sport.'"

"I'm not a woman; I'm a trans woman," Powers said. "And it's like this bizarro world where I'm trying to defend my reality against people who are trying to defend something I'm telling them I'm not."

When asked about trans golfer Hailey Davidson, who is competing for a spot on the LPGA tour, and what governing bodies need to do to protect women’s sports, Powers said, "I don't know what the governing bodies need to do, but they need to listen to woman athletes — y'know, women; adult human females — they need to listen to those athletes, listen to their pain points and understand that there has to be a change. There has to be a clear line in the sand."

"And it's not from a position of discrimination at all," Powers continued. "It's just from a posting of fairness, from the original reason why we (have) women's sports and men's sports."

Powers, who also competes in skiing and tennis, has repeatedly spoken out about protecting women’s sports from the angle of a transgender athlete. In one video, Powers said, "There’s not one" reason trans-identified males should be included in women’s sports. Powers has also run into issues signing up for ski races for the upcoming season, with race organizers calling Powers when they see the name Nicole in the men’s category, asking if Powers made a mistake.

Powers has launched a GoFundMe to protect women’s sports, writing, "I am a transgender woman and an athlete on a mission to SAVE WOMEN'S SPORTS by showing that trans women have the same skills and abilities as any other males while I compete in the men's divisions of skiing events."

"I will be spending this season and the next years to training my hardest to bring attention to athletic performance amongst trans women and change the narrative about women competing with males in the sporting world."