Transgender archery champion banned from Texas women's tournaments

A transgender archer who won a state championship has been barred from women’s competitions after complaints.

KellyJeanne Pyne, who identifies as a female, was one of three competitors in the senior women’s freestyle event at the Texas Field Archery Association’s Indoor State Tournament on Feb. 26 near Fort Worth. She finished only one point ahead of the runner-up.

“It felt good,” Pyne told KXAN. “It felt like I had achieved something, and then that was rapidly taken away.”

However, three female archers submitted official protests to the results, saying that Payne, who is transgender, should not be competing in women’s events.

A committee unanimously decided in the protester’s favor, saying Pyne was ineligible to receive the titles of TFAA Senior Female Freestyle Shooter of the Year and State Champion. They also ruled transgender archers were now barred from male events.

The transgender Pyne argues that she holds no inherent advantages in a precision sport like archery.

“The aim comes from your mental game: can you sit there and focus on that pin or on that dot and keep it in the center until the shot breaks?” Pyne said.

“That’s your mental game. It really comes down to a mental game and practice.”

Pyne, who is a disabled Army veteran, also said she has never been challenged in prior archery or rifle shooting competitions.

The National Field Archery Association sided with Pyne. It is implementing new eligibility rules on June 1 that will allow transgender women to compete alongside biological women if their testosterone level is below a 10 nmol/L.