Cammie Woodman of Brooklyn, New York, claims she was booted from a casual tennis league after a cisgender woman complained of losing to a trans player.

The self-proclaimed “Trans Tennis Princess” was a member of the Brooklyn Tennis League, a division of the Tennis League Network, an amateur recreational tennis league with multiple chapters across the United States. Unlike pro tennis leagues, the group is more like a membership program where players pay a seasonal fee to be matched up with other members to play on city courts. 

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The Brooklyn Tennis League, along with other TLN chapters, is a cheaper alternative to amateur tennis leagues. Its seasonal fee is $40, and it uses public facilities instead of privately owned courts. Members self-report their skill level through a questionnaire and are matched with players of similar skill levels based on the information they submit. The network’s website posts meet-up times at public courts.

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Woodman began playing tennis a few years ago while transitioning and rates herself as an intermediate player. She told THE CITY that before tennis, she never played any other sport in her life.

Last week, Woodman met with her opponent at the Lincoln Terrace Park tennis court in Crown Heights for a friendly match. They played two games, in which Woodman won both matches 6-2, 6-0. According to Woodman, the two had a pleasant conversation afterward and went on their way.

It came as a surprise when her opponent, a cisgender woman, sent an email to the Brooklyn Tennis League asking for Woodman to be removed from the women’s division, calling Cammie a “male playing in a women’s league.” 

Tennis League CEO Steven Chagnon forwarded the email to Woodman, writing, “Can we move you over to an appropriate level Men’s Division?”

“It was such a sucker punch,” Woodman said.

Woodman responded to the email, answering no, citing that she is a transgender woman who has been medically transitioning for the past four years and that putting her in the men’s division would put her at a disadvantage. 

She also said that her opponent seemed inexperienced despite rating herself as 3.0 – or beginner-intermediate – and found it offensive that she went behind her back to report her. Woodman said that if she was being kicked out of the women’s division, then she would prefer to be refunded her seasonal fee.

Other members who advocated on her behalf, including Mel O’Brien, were removed from the program and given refunds.

“I don’t want to be in a league that discriminates against people, especially something that’s so casual, it’s so unnecessary to exclude Cammie from this league,” said O’Brien.

“Whatever this is, we have zero interest in being involved. Everyone who is connected is getting refunded immediately and removed from the program,” CEO Chagnon wrote in an email.

Several other members left the league in protest.

Woodman posted these exchanges on her Instagram stories and has since contacted the Department of Parks and Recreation and the City Commission on Human Rights to open an investigation to find probable cause to remove Tennis League Network from city courts.

Parks Department spokesperson Chris Clark said in a statement, “Discrimination has no place in our city. Our public parks are spaces where all New Yorkers and visitors should feel welcome.”

Spokesperson Laura Brantley of the City Commission on Human Rights made a similar statement.

“Discrimination based on gender identity is illegal under the New York City Human Rights Law,” Brantley said. “Anyone who has experienced or witnessed discrimination should reach out to the commission.”

Woodman also got support from the United States Tennis Association – Eastern, which commented on one of her posts: “So sorry you’re experiencing this, Cammie