Transgender women BANNED from participating in NAIA events as women: NCAA rivals’ votes only include students ‘whose biological sex is female’

Transgender women will no longer be welcome to compete as women in National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) competitions, the governing body voted Monday.

The NAIA’s national convention, Council of Presidents, announced the decision Monday, stating that beginning Aug. 1, “only students whose biological sex is female” will be able to compete in NAIA women’s sports.

Although not as recognized or as powerful as the NCAA, the NAIA has 250 member schools across the country and its athletes receive $1.3 billion in scholarships, according to the organization’s website .

The NCAA has been at the center of the debate over trans women in women’s sports in recent years. Most notably, transgender Penn swimmer Lia Thomas sparked controversy by competing in the 2022 NCAA Championships, while Franklin Pierce’s CeCe Telfer made a splash in 2019 by winning the Division II women’s 400-meter hurdles after previously competing as a man.

In fact, Monday’s NAIA decision comes as the NCAA faces a lawsuit from more than a dozen college athletes, who claim their Title IX rights were violated when Thomas competed in the 2022 national championships .

The lawsuit, filed last month in U.S. District Court in Atlanta, details the shock Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines and other swimmers felt when they learned they would have to share a locker room with Thomas at the championships. ‘Atlanta. It documents a number of races they and Thomas competed in, including the 200-yard final in which Thomas and Gaines tied for fifth, but Thomas, not Gaines, received the fifth-place trophy.

Thomas swam for Pennsylvania. She competed for Penn’s men’s team before her gender transition.

Thomas was the first openly transgender athlete to win a Division I title in any sport, finishing ahead of three Olympic medalists for the championship. By not competing in the final, the lawsuit says Florida swimmer Tylor Mathieu, who was not a plaintiff, was denied first-team All-American honors in that event.

Other plaintiffs included volleyball and track and field athletes.

The lawsuit says the plaintiffs “bring this case to ensure for future generations of women the promise of Title IX that is being denied to them and other students” by the NCAA.

“College sports are the premier stage of women’s sports in America, and while the NCAA does not comment on pending litigation, the association and its members will continue to promote Title IX, make unprecedented investments in women’s sport and to ensure fair competition in all NCAA championships.”, the NCAA said in a statement.

Franklin Pierce’s CeCe Telfer wins the 400 meter hurdles at the 2019 Division II Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships

In 2022, the NCAA revised its policies on the participation of transgender athletes in what it called an attempt to align with national sports governing bodies.

The third phase of the revised policy adds national and international standards from the athletic governing bodies to the NCAA rules and is expected to be implemented for the 2024-2025 school year.

The lawsuit also names the University of Georgia system as a defendant because one of its schools, Georgia Tech, hosted the 2022 championships. The suit seeks to prevent the NCAA from using its transgender eligibility policies “which negatively impact female athletes in violation of Title IX” at upcoming events in Georgia.

Representatives for Georgia schools said they had not been informed of the lawsuit and would not comment.

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics voted Monday to ban transgender women from women’s competitions starting next school year, sparking concerns from transgender rights advocates that the NCAA could follow suit.

At the NAIA National Convention, the Council of Presidents determined that beginning August 1, “only students whose biological sex is female” will be able to compete in women’s sports. This includes transgender men or non-binary students who are not receiving masculinizing hormones.