The participation of transgender women against biological female athletes has sparked heated debate over fairness and protecting the integrity of women’s sports.

Transgender University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas’ participation in NCAA women’s swimming during the 2021-22 season sparked a growing debate over the fairness of transgender women competing against biological females.

A victory this week by transgender golfer Breanna Gill at the Australian Women’s Classic added more fuel to the debate.

Gill, a biological male who has been playing in professional women’s tournaments for eight years, was eager to celebrate her first win at the classic when death threats started rolling in.

After her victory, Gill reportedly received numerous hate messages across her social media accounts. As a result, she deleted her Twitter and Instagram profiles.

“It’s the biggest win of her life. It’s really sad that she can’t celebrate that win,” WPGA Tour of Australasia chief Karen Lunn told The Sydney Morning Herald.

Lunn also told The Sydney Morning Herald that the hateful tweets from the WPGA Tour of Australasia account were deleted for the sake of Gill’s well-being.

It also appears the WPGA Tour of Australasia currently has their tweets protected.

Some of the online criticism of Gill’s win labeled the victory “mental illness” and accused her of “taking away a woman’s spot” in the championship win.

One Twitter user called out the numerous instances where transgender athletes are participating in women’s sports, and question if “the end” of women’s sports is approaching.

Some Twitter users condemned the death threats Gill received.

However, several did not seem to approve of biological men competing in women’s sports.

Lunn has explained that Gill had met all policy requirements for transgender athlete participation, and her participation had never caused a problem with the 300 other members of the organization.

The requirements for participation include gender reassignment surgery, hormonal therapy for at least a year, and legal documents acknowledging gender reassignment.

“Everyone’s worried about her welfare,” Lunn said to the Herald. “It’s obviously a very tough time.”