Transgender women are BANNED from competing in NAIA events as females: NCAA rival votes to only include students ‘whose biological sex is female’

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

The NAIA’s national convention, the 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 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 for the past few years. Notably, Penn’s transgender swimmer Lia Thomas sparked controversy by competing at 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 compete 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 in Atlanta. It documents a series of races in which they swam with Thomas, including the 200-yard final in which Thomas and Gaines tied for fifth place, but Thomas, not Gaines, received the fifth-place trophy.

Thomas swam to Pennsylvania. He competed for the Penn men’s team before his gender transition.

Thomas was the first openly transgender athlete to win a Division I title in any sport, finishing ahead of three Olympic medalists in the championship. By not making the finals, the lawsuit mentions that 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 athletes.

The lawsuit says the plaintiffs “bring this case to assure future generations of women of the promise of Title IX that the NCAA denies them and other college women.”

‘College sports are the primary arena for women’s sports in the United States, 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 sports, and ensure fair competition. in all NCAA championships. ”the NCAA said in a statement.

Franklin Pierce’s CeCe Telfer wins the 400-meter hurdles during 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 they called an attempt to align with national sports governing bodies.

The third phase of the revised policy adds standards from national and international sports governing bodies to NCAA rules and is scheduled to be implemented for the 2024-25 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 lawsuit seeks to block the NCAA from employing its transgender eligibility policies that negatively impact female athletes. in violation of Title IX’ at upcoming events to be held in Georgia.

Representatives of Georgia schools said they had not received the lawsuit and would not comment.

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics voted Monday to ban transgender women from women’s competition starting next school year, raising concerns among transgender rights advocates that the NCAA could do the same.

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. That includes transgender men or non-binary students who do not receive masculinizing hormones.