NAIA's Transgender Policy Is a First

Organization says change is to protect competition
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Apr 8, 2024 6:12 PM CDT
NAIA's Transgender Policy Is a First
Freed-Hardeman guard Quan Lax wears the championship banner after the NAIA men's national championship college basketball game against Langston, on March 26 in Kansas City, Mo. Freed-Hardeman won 71-67.   (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics announced a policy Monday that all but bars transgender athletes from competing in women's sports at its 241 mostly small colleges across the country. The NAIA Council of Presidents approved the policy in a 20-0 vote at its annual convention in Kansas City, Missouri. The NAIA, which oversees some 83,000 athletes competing in more than 25 sports, is believed to be the first college sports organization to take such a step, the AP reports.

According to the transgender participation policy, which goes into effect in August, all athletes may participate in NAIA-sponsored male sports, but only athletes whose biological sex assigned at birth is female and have not begun hormone therapy will be allowed participate in women's sports. A student who has begun hormone therapy may participate in workouts, practices, and team activities but not in intercollegiate competition. NAIA programs in competitive cheer and competitive dance are open to all students. The NAIA policy notes that every other sport "includes some combination of strength, speed and stamina, providing competitive advantages for male student-athletes."

NAIA President and CEO Jim Carr told the AP that he understands the policy will generate controversy. "But we feel like our primary responsibility is fairness in competition, so we are following that path," Carr said. The NAIA's 2023-24 policy did not bar transgender and nonbinary athletes from competing in the division of their choice in the regular season. Shiwali Patel, senior counsel at the National Women's Law Center, said her organization was outraged by the new policy. "It's important to recognize that these discriminatory policies don't enhance fairness in competition," Patel said in a statement. "Instead, they send a message of exclusion and reinforce dangerous stereotypes that harm all women."

(More transgender rights stories.)

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