Freed-Hardeman guard Quan Lax carries the championship banner after the NAIA men’s national championship college basketball game against Langston, Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Kansas City, Missouri.
Charlie Riedel/AP
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Charlie Riedel/AP
Freed-Hardeman guard Quan Lax carries the championship banner after the NAIA men’s national championship college basketball game against Langston, Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Kansas City, Missouri.
Charlie Riedel/AP
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics announced a policy Monday banning transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports at its 241 mostly small colleges across the country.
The NAIA Council of Presidents approved the policy by a vote of 20-0 at its annual convention in Kansas City, Missouri. The NAIA, which oversees some 83,000 athletes competing in more than 25 sports, would be the first college sports organization to take such a step.
Under the Transgender Participation Policy, all athletes may participate in NAIA-sponsored men’s sports, but only athletes whose biological sex assigned at birth is female and who have not started hormone therapy will be allowed to participate. to women’s sports.
A student who has started hormone treatment can participate in activities such as workouts, practices, and team activities, but not in interscholastic competitions.
“With the exception of competitive cheering and competitive dancing, the NAIA has created separate categories for male and female participants,” the NAIA said. “Each NAIA sport includes a combination of strength, speed and endurance, providing competitive advantages to male student-athletes. Accordingly, the NAIA policy for transgender student-athletes applies to all sports , with the exception of competitive cheer and competitive dancing, which are open to all students.”
There is no known number of transgender athletes at the high school and college levels, although it is believed to be low. The topic has nonetheless become a hot button among conservative groups and others who believe transgender athletes should not be allowed to compete on women’s and women’s sports teams.
“The NAIA understands that legal action is possible to challenge this policy, but this policy is a decision that our members and board of directors believe is the right decision,” the NAIA said in a statement to The Associated Press.
Shiwali Patel, senior attorney at the National Women’s Law Center, said her organization was outraged by the NAIA’s policy.
“This is unacceptable and blatant discrimination that not only harms trans, non-binary and intersex people, but also limits the potential of all athletes,” Patel said in a statement. “It is important to recognize that these discriminatory policies do not enhance competitive fairness. Instead, they send a message of exclusion and reinforce dangerous stereotypes that harm all women.”
Last month, more than a dozen current and former college athletes filed a federal lawsuit against the NCAA, accusing the sports governing body of more than 500,000 athletes of violating their rights by allowing women transgender people to compete in women’s sports.
Hours after the NAIA’s announcement, the NCAA released a statement: “College sports are the premier stage for women’s sports in America and the NCAA will continue to promote Title IX, make unprecedented investments in sports women and to guarantee fair competition for all student-athletes in the country. all NCAA championships. »
At least 24 states have laws banning transgender women and girls from participating in certain girls’ or women’s sports competitions.
The Biden administration had initially planned to issue a new federal Title IX rule — the law prohibits sex discrimination in education — addressing both campus sexual assault and transgender athletes. Earlier this year, the department decided to split them into separate rules, and the athletics rule now remains in limbo, even as the sexual assault policy moves forward.
Patel said the NAIA ban, along with state laws, “underscores the urgency of having clear Title IX rules that expressly prohibit this type of sex discrimination and guarantee the rights of all students, including transgender, non-binary and intersex athletes. are protected. Trans athletes deserve a chance to play.
The NCAA has had a policy in place for the participation of transgender athletes since 2010, which included one year of testosterone suppression treatment and documented testosterone levels submitted before championship competitions.
In 2022, the NCAA revised its policies on the participation of transgender athletes in an effort to align with national sports governing bodies, such as the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee.
The three-phase implementation of the policy included continuing the 2010 policy, requiring transgender women to undergo hormone replacement therapy for at least one year, as well as submitting a hormone test before the start of the season regular and championship. events.
The third phase adds national and international athletic governing body standards to NCAA policy and, after some time, is expected to be implemented for the 2024-25 school year on August 1.
There are some 15.3 million public high school students in the United States, and a 2019 study by the CDC estimates that 1.8% of them, or about 275,000, are transgender. The number of athletes within this group is much smaller; a 2017 survey by the Human Rights Campaign suggests that fewer than 15% of all transgender boys and girls play sports.
The number of NAIA transgender athletes would be much lower.
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