The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) announced Monday that transgender people will be allowed to participate in NAIA-sponsored women's sports as long as their biological sex assigned at birth is female and they have not started hormone therapy. Approved the participation policy. The policy would also allow all athletes to participate in men's sports.
“We unwaveringly support fair competition for our student-athletes,” NAIA President and CEO Jim Kerr said in a news release. “It is critical that NAIA member institutions, academic societies, and student-athletes participate in a fair and respectful environment. With input from our member institutions and the Transgender Task Force, NAIA’s Council of Presidents confirmed the path we should take.”
Under the new policy, athletes who have not started masculinizing hormone therapy can participate in women's sports without restrictions. However, if an athlete begins hormone therapy, the athlete will not be allowed to participate in interscholastic games, but will still be allowed to participate in training, practices, and team activities.
The transgender participation policy applies to all sports except cheer and dance, which are coed.
The NAIA is a small collegiate sports organization that oversees 241 schools and approximately 83,000 athletes participating in more than 25 sports.
The organization formed a transgender task force in April 2022 to “determine whether NAIA’s existing transgender policy needs to be changed and, if so, create a new transgender policy,” according to a statement. The mission was to submit policy recommendations.
The new policy, effective August 1, 2024, was approved by the NAIA Council of Presidents in a 20-0 vote at NAIA's annual meeting.
“The updated NAIA policy 1) provides fair competition, 2) creates a structure that allows members to comply with Title IX and other applicable laws, and 3) provides appropriate and reasonable opportunities for transgender individuals. “We seek to balance NAIA's interests and obligations to keep athletes competitive,” the organization's statement reads. “Input regarding transgender participation in athletics was received from members and student-athletes throughout the process, and the feedback was overwhelmingly supportive of the proposed policy.”
The NCAA released its own statement regarding women's sports on Monday, hours after the NAIA's policy announcement.
“College sports are the highest stage for women's sports in America, and the NCAA continues to advance Title IX, make unprecedented investments in women's sports, and ensure fair competition for all student-athletes in every NCAA championship. “We guarantee that,” the NCAA said.
The NCAA is currently charging that the organization's transgender participation policy, which allowed transgender swimmer Leah Thomas, to compete on the University of Pennsylvania women's swim team, “continuously violated the 2022 Title IX.” A lawsuit has been filed by the players. NCAA Swimming Championships.
The exact number of transgender athletes competing at the collegiate level is unknown, but it is believed to be a very small number.
South Carolina coach Dawn Staley was asked about her position on the issue at a news conference Saturday, and said she supports transgender women participating in women's sports.
“I think if you're a woman, you should play. If you consider yourself a woman and want to play sports, or vice versa, you should be able to play sports. That's my opinion.” said Staley, whose Shamcocks defeated Iowa in the national championship on Sunday.
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