The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics made a policy announcement on Monday that all but forbids trans athletes from competing in women’s sports at its 241 mainly little colleges across the nation.
At its annual agreement in Kansas City, Missouri, the NAIA Council of Presidents voted 20 to 0. The NAIA, which regulates 83,000 players competing in more than 25 sports, is regarded as the first university sports organization to get a similar course.
All players are permitted to compete in NAIA-sponsored adult activities under the transgender contribution plan, which goes into impact in August. However, only those who have engaged in gender transition and have not begun hormone therapy will be able to do so.
A student who has begun testosterone treatments may participate in activities such as training, techniques and team activities, but not in professional contest.
All students are welcome to enroll in NAIA competitions in praise and dancing. Every additional activity, according to NAIA policy, “includes some combination of strength, velocity, and stamina, which offers female student athletes competitive advantages.”
In an interview with The Associated Press, NAIA President and CEO Jim Carr stated that while he is aware that the policy will cause discussion, that it was deemed best for member institutions for economical reasons.
We want to be respectful of all that there are, and a lot of folks have really emotional reactions to this, Carr said. We are following the same path because we believe justice to be our top priority in the world of competition. And we’ve done our best to make sure everyone participated in some.
Transgender and intersex runners were never prohibited from competing in the section of their decision in the regular season by the NAIA’s 2023-24 plan. Athletes had to engage in the section of their birth sex during the postseason, with the exception of those who had hormone treatment.
Although it is believed that there are only a small number of transgender athletes at the high school and college levels, there is no identified quantity of them. The subject has become a hot-button problem in the eyes of liberal organizations and others who think transgender athletes should not be permitted to thrive on girls’ and women’s sports teams.
Shiwali Patel, top guidance at the National Women’s Law Center, said her organization was outraged by the NAIA plan.
“This is unethical and blatant bias that not only harms transgender, nonbinary and transgender people, but limits the potential of all players”, Patel said in a statement. It’s crucial to acknowledge that these unfair practices don’t promote fairness in competition. Instead, they reinforce dangerous stereotypes that harm all women and send a message of exclusion.
More than a dozen current and former college athletes filed a federal lawsuit against the NCAA last month, alleging that the organization’s participation in women’s sports violated more than 500,000 athletes’ rights.
The NCAA stated in a statement that came shortly after the NAIA announcement that “college sports are the premier stage for women’s sports in America. The NCAA will continue to promote Title IX, make unprecedented investments in women’s sports, and ensure fair competition for all student-athletes at all NCAA championships.”
In at least 24 states, certain women’s or girls’ sports competitions are prohibited for transgender women and girls.
A new federal Title IX rule, which addresses both campus sexual assault and transgender athletes, was originally planned by the Biden administration. The law forbids discrimination based on sex in education. The department made the decision to divide them into separate rules earlier this year, and the athletics rule is still in debate.
About 190 of the 241 NAIA schools are private, and about 125 of those have religious affiliations of varying degrees, Carr said. Of the 20 presidents who voted, 17 are from schools affiliated with Christian denominations.
People have a certain perspective on the world, and Carr said, “Even though I think all of our Council of Presidents members are trying to think what’s best for the NAIA, they certainly approach these kinds of issues with their own beliefs and the purposes of their institutions in mind.” “I would think that had some impact”.
Patel said the NAIA ban, along with the state laws, “emphasizes the urgency in having clear Title IX rules that expressly prohibit this type of sex-based discrimination, and ensure the rights of all students, including transgender, nonbinary, and intersex athletes, are safeguarded. Trans athletes are entitled to a chance to play.
Since 2010, the NCAA has a policy for transgender athletes that mandates one year of testosterone suppression therapy and evidence of testosterone levels submitted before championship competitions. Following the example of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, the NCAA updated its policies on transgender athlete participation in an effort to align with national sport governing bodies in 2022.
The transgender women’s hormone replacement therapy program was followed by the three-phase implementation of the policy, which required them to do so for at least one year, and to submit a hormone level test before the start of both the regular season and championship competitions.
The third phase adds international and national sport governing body standards to the NCAA’s policy and, after a delay, is scheduled to start rolling out 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 estimated 1.8% of them — about 275,000 — are transgender. A 2017 survey by Human Rights Campaign suggested less than 15% of all transgender boys and transgender girls play sports, which is a much smaller group of athletes.
The number of transgender athletes in NAIA would be much smaller.
Hank Kurz Jr. and John Zenor, both AP sports writers, contributed to this report.
AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports
