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Mianne Bagger (born December 25, 1966) is a female
Golf|golfer from Denmark with a transsexual past.
Bagger took up golf at the age of eight. At the
age of 14, she was pictured with golf legend Greg
Norman during a golf clinic.

Bagger moved to Australia in 1979. In 1995, she
had sex reassignment surgery. In 1998, she
returned to golf, as an amateur in Australia.

When she started playing amateur tournaments in
Australia, she caused a media stir. Many golf fans
argued that her being born a male could give her
an advantage over other, non-transsexual female
competitors. Bagger answered by saying that many
people don't understand the concept of sexual
reassignment surgery. But since the Australian
Women's Golf Association has no ban against
transgendered females, she was welcomed to play
there. At Bagger's first tournament as a
professional, Laura Davies and Rachel Teske were
among players who were happy to allow Mianne to
compete.

In 1999, Bagger won her first South-Australian
championship, repeating as champion in 2001 and
2002.

She caused another media stir in 2003, when she
attempted to join the Australian Ladies
Professional Golf Association (ALPGA) branch of
the LPGA. Commissioner Ty Votaw said "right now,
our rule is that they have to be born women".
Mianne notes that "they obviously don't consider
that I meet that
condition"http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/8.30/spor
tsf/stories/s1059427.htm, referring to biology not
being the sole determinant of whether someone is a
woman or not. However, Votaw left the possibility
open for that rule to change in the future.

The 2004 ruling by the International Olympic
Committee regarding transsexual athletes led to a
re-examination of rules in many sports. In
November 2004, the ALPGA voted in favor of
changing their constitution to remove the gender
clause, thus making Bagger eligible to join the
ALPG Tour.

On 9 February 2005, the Ladies Golf Union
announced a policy change which allowed Bagger to
compete in the Women's British Open.

On 21 March 2005, The United States Golf
Association announced it has adopted a new policy
that allows transsexual athletes to compete in
USGA golf championships, including the upcoming
U.S. Open (golf)|U.S. Women's Open.






==External links==
http://www.miannegolf.com Mianne Bagger Official
website