Transgender golfer Mianne Bagger says saying a person is assigned a sex is ‘absurd’

Australian professional golfer and transgender woman Mianne Bagger has taken issue with the claim written in new national sporting guidelines that gender is assigned at birth.

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EXCLUSIVE: Australian professional golfer and transgender woman Mianne Bagger has taken issue with the claim written in new national sporting guidelines that gender is assigned at birth.

The comments came after The Daily Telegraph revealed sporting clubs had been asked to adopt new guidelines for children, allowing them to play as the sex they identify as and for teams to stock uniforms for gender-diverse players.

“Saying a person is assigned a sex is absurd. For 98 per cent of the population it is generally consistent with their gender identity. It is an observation and not arbitrarily assigned by doctors and nurses who are present at the birthing,” Ms Bagger said.

“For me this is a bit of ideology and political correctness gone a little bit too far. We need to be able to accept biological facts. But I do think the people who put the guidelines together have done their best with such a complex issue.”

Australian transgender golfer Mianne Bagger said saying a person is assigned a sex is absurd.

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A spokeswoman for the Australian Human Rights Commission said that they define gender as being different to a person’s biological sex.

“The Sex Discrimination Act defines ‘gender identity’ as ‘the gender-related identity, appearance or mannerisms or other gender-related characteristics of a person, whether by way of medical intervention or not, with or without regard to the person’s designated sex at birth,” she said.

“Sex refers to a person’s biological sex or sex characteristics. These may be genetic, hormonal, or anatomical.”

The guide also encouraged sporting clubs to rewrite official policies to include a “statement that participation in sport should be based on a person’s affirmed gender identity and not the sex they were assigned at birth.

It also recommended that players “will not be asked to undergo a medical examination for the purposes of gender verification”.

Ms Bagger, who transitioned to a woman later in life, was consulted by Sports Australia on the drafting of the new guidelines, as was army veteran and cricketer Catherine McGregor.

However, the Adelaide-born golfer said that while she was happy with most of the guide she had issues with certain phrases she felt were simply “ideological”.

She questioned a guideline that said “being asked invasive questions” about appearance was an example of “exclusion or harassment”.

“When I first went on tour with the golf girls I could tell everyone had so many questions for me and I really had to push them to ask,” she said. “I wanted to be able to talk about it and let them know who I am.”

Originally published as Transgender golfer Mianne Bagger says saying a person is assigned a sex is ‘absurd’