Republican governors urge NCAA to ban biological males from female sports

Nine Republican governors have called on the NCAA to toughen its “misguided” transgender policy by barring male-born athletes from women’s intercollegiate sports in the interest of competitive fairness.

The NCAA’s Transgender Student-Athlete Participation Policy approved in January 2022 says that each sport’s rules will be determined by the national governing body of that sport, a standard that the governors described as inadequate.

“The NCAA has the chance to guarantee an environment where female college athletes can thrive without the concern of inequities,” said the Monday letter led by South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem. “We trust that you also want to guarantee just such an environment. But this policy allows the NCAA to avoid responsibility for ensuring the fairness of collegiate sports – therefore it must be changed.”

Rules governing transgender athletes vary widely from sport to sport. For example, USA Fencing requires just 12 months of testosterone suppression for biological males seeking to compete in female events.

USA Swimming tightened its rules last year amid the outcry over record-smashing transgender swimmer Lia Thomas. The organization now requires athletes to keep testosterone in serum below 5 nmol/L for at least 36 months before competition, and convince a panel that they have no competitive edge based on “physical development … as a male.”

Advocates for single-sex sports argue that such restrictions still fail to mitigate the benefits of going through male versus female puberty, which include larger hearts, greater lung capacity, increased bone density, less body fat, greater muscle mass, and more red blood cells.

“Policies that allow men and women to compete against one another validate an average male athlete stealing the recognition from a truly remarkable female athlete,” said the letter.

The governors pointed to the case of U.S. track star Allyson Felix, winner of 10 Olympic medals, including seven gold.

“Allyson specialized in the 400-meter race, with a lifetime best of 49.62 seconds,” the governors said. “Yet hundreds of high school aged boys have run faster times than that. Science has proven that male and female bodies are biologically different.”

Former Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, who became NCAA President in March, distanced himself from the organization’s transgender battles last month under quizzing from Senate Republicans, but avoided committing to any specific changes.

“I can tell you that the standards with respect to participation for trans athletes in women’s sports have been adjusted since then and continue to be adjusted based on conversation with other governing bodies,” he told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Oct. 17.

Today, I led 8 GOP Govs in urging the @NCAA to rewrite its Transgender Student Athlete Policy.

As Governors, we’re protecting the fairness of athletics in our states. It’s time for @NCAA to protect, preserve, & encourage fairness in women’s athletics.

➡️https://t.co/PmY9yfyxzd pic.twitter.com/PfPi9bje9d

— Governor Kristi Noem (@GovKristiNoem) October 30, 2023

Advocates for transgender athletes argue that “trans women are women” and that requiring them to compete based on biological sex is discriminatory.

So far 23 states have passed laws banning male-born athletes in female sports, but the governors noted that there is no such federal law.

“Many of us have gotten legislation signed into law to ensure this fairness, but more can always be done,” the governors said. “As governors of our states, it is our responsibility to care for our constituents, and we are doing all we can to protect the fairness of athletics in our states. Now, it is time for the NCAA to do the same and make the best decision for all of your athletes.”

The other GOP governors signing the letter were Sarah Sanders of Arkansas, Tate Reeves of Mississippi, Mike Parson of Missouri, Greg Gianforte of Montana, Joe Lombardo of Nevada, Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma, Greg Abbott of Texas and Mark Gordon of Wyoming.