The National Association of Interscholastic Athletics announced Monday that it will ban transgender women from participating in women’s sports.
The Council of Presidents of the National Association of Small Colleges has approved by a 20-0 vote a policy that only students who are assigned female at birth can compete in women’s sports. The new policy also blocks transgender women or non-binary students who receive masculinizing hormone therapy.
“We know there are a lot of different opinions,” NAIA president Jim Carr told CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd. “For us, we believed that our first responsibility was to create fairness and competition in the NAIA.”
He said the NAIA also believes its new policy is consistent with the reasons Title IX was created.
“You’re allowed to have separate but equal opportunities for women to compete,” Carr said.
He told CBS Sports that any NAIA athletes who no longer qualify for women’s competition can still participate in men’s sports.
A student who has started hormone therapy may participate in activities such as practices, practices, and team activities, but not in interscholastic competition.
“Except for competitive cheer and competitive dance, NAIA has created separate categories for male and female participants,” NAIA said. “Every NAIA sport involves some combination of strength, speed and endurance, providing competitive advantages for male student-athletes. As a result, the NAIA policy on transgender student-athletes applies to all sports with the exception of competitive cheer and competitive dance, which are open to all students.”
The organization is believed to be the first to mandate that athletes compete according to their assigned gender at birth.
There is no known number of transgender athletes at the high school and college level, although it is believed to be small.
The NAIA is the national athletic governing body for 249 mostly small colleges and approximately 83,000 student-athletes in more than 25 sports. The organization’s membership is about 80% private schools and is not part of the NCAA’s three competitive divisions.
Hours after the NAIA’s announcement, the NCAA released a statement: “College sports is the premier stage for women’s sports in America, and the NCAA will continue to promote Title IX, make unprecedented investments in women’s sports, and ensure fair competition for all student-athletes in all championships.” of the NCAA.”
Shivali Patel, senior counsel 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 individuals, but limits the potential of all athletes,” Patel said in a statement. “It is important to recognize that these discriminatory policies do not enhance fairness in competition. Instead, they send a message of exclusion and reinforce dangerous stereotypes that harm all women.”
The topic of transgender athletes has become a hot-button issue among conservative groups and others who believe that transgender athletes should not be allowed to compete on girls’ and women’s sports teams. Last month, more than a dozen current and former female college athletes filed a federal lawsuit against the NCAAaccusing college sports’ governing body of violating their rights by allowing transgender women to compete in women’s sports.
At least 20 countries have approved a version of a a blanket ban on transgender athletes playing K-12 and collegiate sports teams across the country, but the Biden administration’s proposal to ban such outright bans will be finalized this year after numerous delays and much pushback. As proposed, the rule would find that blanket bans would violate Title IX, the landmark gender equality legislation passed in 1972.
In 2022, the NCAA revised its policies regarding 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 sports governing body standards to the NCAA rules and is scheduled to go into effect Aug. 1.
