Lana Lawless is a 57-year-old former police officer who underwent gender reassignment surgery five years ago. She filed the suit in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco after being disqualified by the Long Drivers of America. She won that organization's world championship title in 2008.
She is suing the Long Drivers, the LPGA and their sponsors. Both now have regulations in place that say that competitors must be born female.
>> Watch Brian Copeland's full interview with Lana Lawless
Lawless says that both organizations violate California law prohibiting discrimination based upon gender identity. She is seeking unspecified monetary damages and an injunction stopping all competitive events in California by both organizations until they change their rules.
We spoke with Mike Scanlan, public relations manager for the LPGA, and he said they haven't been served with the lawsuit yet, so they will probably have a comment after they receive it and after their legal counsel has had a chance to review it.
The Long Drivers of America's legal counsel was unavailable for comment today.
