The NAIA voted unanimously to require athletes to compete based on birth sex, becoming the first national collegiate sports body to ban male-born athletes from the women’s field.
The small-college association’s Council of Presidents approved the policy Monday on a 20-0 vote at its annual meeting in Kansas City, Missouri, ruling that as of Aug. 1, “only students whose biological sex is female” will be able to participate in women’s athletics.
“It is crucial that NAIA member institutions, conferences, and student-athletes participate in an environment that is equitable and respectful,” NAIA President and CEO Jim Carr said in a press release. “With input from our member institutions and the Transgender Task Force, the NAIA’s Council of Presidents has confirmed our path forward.”
Female students transitioning to male may compete in women’s sports only if they have not begun “any masculinizing hormone therapy.” Those who have done so may participate in workouts, practices and team activities, but not “countable contests.”
“The NAIA supports fair and safe competition opportunities for all student-athletes,” the newly passed Transgender Participation Policy said. “Title IX ensures there are separate and equal opportunities for female athletes. As a result, the NAIA offers separate categories of competition in all sports except for competitive cheer and competitive dance, which are both co-ed.”
The NAIA cited the physical differences between men and women, saying that each of its sports, aside from competitive cheer and dance, “includes some combination of strength, speed, and stamina, providing competitive advantages for male student-athletes.”
With its vote, the NAIA drew cheers from advocates for single-sex female sports — and put pressure on the far larger NCAA, which allows male-born athletes to compete on the women’s side based on the policies of the national governing bodies of each sport.
About 83,000 athletes at 241 mostly small, private colleges participate in NAIA sports, while the NCAA governs collegiate athletics at more than 1,100 universities and colleges.
“Thank you, NAIA, for standing with female athletes & prioritizing their safety & equal opportunity. Women’s sports are for WOMEN,” the right-tilting Independent Women’s Forum said on X.
The Independent Council on Women’s Sports, or ICONS, cited the lawsuit filed last month by former and current NCAA athletes challenging its transgender-eligibility policy.
“The NCAA is next … even if it’s against their will,” ICONS said on X.
Well done, @NAIA !! Not easy to be first. https://t.co/LJimceWp0h
— Michele Tafoya (@Michele_Tafoya) April 8, 2024
Denouncing the decision was transgender triathlete Chris Mosier, a leading advocate for transgender eligibility in sports, who said the NAIA policy was “clearly due to political pressure and not any real issue with transgender women in NAIA sports.”
“I only know of two trans athletes who have been in NAIA sports, and both were trans masculine athletes,” Mosier said on Instagram, referring to female-to-male transgender athletes.
The announcement came with transgender participation in the news after South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said ahead of Sunday’s NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament championship game that students should be able to compete based on gender identity.
“If you consider yourself a woman, and you want to play sports, or vice versa, you should be able to play,” Staley said at the Saturday press conference. “That’s my opinion.”
An estimated 39 transgender athletes have competed openly in NCAA and NAIA sports, according to OutSports, and two male-to-female students have won women’s national titles.
University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas won the 500-yard freestyle at the 2022 Division I NCAA women’s swimming championship. In 2019, Franklin Pierce University student CeCe Telfer took the 400-meter hurdles at the Division II women’s track-and-field championship.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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