Transgender tennis player's participation in a women's tournament prompts local tennis official to resign 

The potential participation of Brooklyn Ross, a transgender college tennis player, in the nationally-recognized Wyoming Governor's Cup 2023 prompted the president of the local board to resign from her position. She believes that letting a transgender athlete compete in the women's singles draw would be unfair to the female participants.

Eventually, Ross herself withdrew from the tournament following the hostility she received, expressing concern that the whole event would be overshadowed by the controversy if she played.

Jackie Fulkrod formerly served as the president of the Cheyenne Tennis Association Board. However, she stepped down from her position earlier this month after learning that Brooklyn Ross would be competing in the women's edition of this year's Wyoming Governor's Cup.

She even went as far as misgendering Ross as she objected that allowing 'a man to play against a woman is a very unfair match-up'.

"I think a man playing against a woman is a very unfair matchup when it’s specifically meant for women in that specific draw," Fulkrod told Fox News. "I feel like having a trans athlete compete in the women’s draw is against my personal integrity and what I believe and value."

Fulkrod then added that she resigned considering there was no way to protect her organization's athletes from the ensuing fallout.

"My decision to resign was solely based on the fact that we didn’t have any way to protect our organization or protect our female athletes that are going to be playing in the tournament."

Transgender athlete Brooklyn Ross withdraws from Wyoming Governor's Cup following former president's comments

The former president's criticism later caused Brooklyn Ross, who was representing the women's team at the University of Texas at Tyler, to pull out of the Wyoming Governer's Cup. The 27-year-old stated that she felt her safety would be compromised following Fulkrod's comments.

“As the event drew closer, it became evident that the environment might deviate from the typical tennis tournament, escalating to a point where safety, including my own, could be compromised,” Ross said.

Renee Richards competing at a tennis tournament

Whether transgender athletes should be allowed to participate in competitive sports has been a major point of contention for some time now.

Coincidentally, one of the earliest transgender athletes was a tennis player named Renée Richards, who started playing in women's tournaments after undergoing gender reassignment therapy in 1975.