When Lisa Corrubia-Colella retired, she never expected to become an advocate for women’s spaces, but her recreational golf league left her with no choice.
For Corrubia-Colella, golfing was a fun hobby that she shared with many others in her community, until she and other league members objected to their leadership’s decision to allow a transgender woman to join.
“Women should not have to compete against men,” Corrubia-Colella told IW Features. “It shows a lack of respect for women, and it is sending women back in time. We are taking steps backwards by allowing men, in any aspect, to play in a sport with women, whether it be golf, pickleball, or tennis.”
The league, which travels around to nearly 30 different courses throughout the area, hosts about 120 women. However, the league’s leadership determined that this biological man should be able to participate, regardless of the majority’s opinion.
“I went and emailed the women in charge of their specific courses,” she said. “But the two women in charge basically said, ‘We’ve made a decision, and we don’t care.’ And there was nothing we could do.”
After emails were sent back and forth between Corrubia-Colella and the course representatives, Corrubia-Colella attempted to include other ladies from the league, but the reps continued to discourage her pushback.
“Every time they would respond to me, they would leave off all the other women, and when I responded back, I would put them all back on,” she said. “They just didn’t want to hear it. They should understand that when you’re in a competition against a man, [he’s] bigger, stronger.”
According to Corrubia-Colella, other members of the league supported her and pushed back on the leadership. And when the group’s advocacy for biological realities was ignored, a new group formed.
“I had a pretty good group of women contact me on the side. There is a group of women who have started playing on Fridays on our own, and I think that we’re up to 25 or 30 women from the original group,” she said.
More significantly, the league, which was originally hosting 120 women, has dwindled to 80 women or fewer, she said.
“I would imagine some of the women don’t care, but they really enjoy the league, and they don’t want to see it go away,” she said. “And there’s a lot of people that are torn, but we seemed to pull away a pretty good group. We’re most likely going to start our own league so that we can continue it with the people.”
But even after starting her own group, Corrubia-Colella was soon faced with yet another problem related to gender ideology: the locker room.
As she contacted the corporate side of her own club, requesting that the locker rooms be designated single-sex, she found the club was unwilling to help her.
“I don’t want him in the locker rooms either,” she said. “I have daughters. I have granddaughters. I don’t want to walk into my club with my granddaughter and there is a man dressed up as a woman sitting in the locker room.”
For Corrubia-Colella, the shocking reality of twisted gender ideology is how it goes against logic in every capacity. Watching the leadership of both her own club and the league sacrifice women’s needs for the sake of political correctness has opened her eyes.
“At a golf club they mandate that men have to wear a collared shirt like ours, but you can’t mandate that men aren’t allowed in the restroom,” she said. “A man can’t enter the dining room with a hat on or their shirt untucked, but the club won’t say men can’t enter the restroom.”
For most of the women in the league, joining the league was a way to integrate and connect with other women in the community. For Corrubia-Colella, who has been a member for 5 years, the leadership’s disregard for the league in its entirety undermines every woman who seeks to play sports competitively.
“I have never been one that backs down on anything. I have fought my whole life to get where I am, and I’m a very strong, independent woman,” she said. “I can stand up for myself for children, grandchildren, and our daughters in general.”
Corrubia-Colella said that it is evident that the situation with this individual clearly shows the need for legislation to protect women’s sports, both professional and recreational.
“The league is about competition and getting better at golf and meeting other people,” Corrubia-Colella said. “But it has felt like a total lack of respect for women. It’s like you’re just stomping on women’s rights all over again.”
