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An NCAA alternative known as the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has announced that trans women may not compete against biological women in all sports.
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, the governing body for mostly small colleges, announced a policy Monday that all but bans transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports.
The NAIA Council of Presidents approved the policy in a 20-0 vote. The NAIA, which oversees some 83,000 athletes at schools across the country, is believed to be the first college sports organization to take such a step.
According to the transgender participation policy, all athletes may participate in NAIA-sponsored male sports but only athletes whose biological sex assigned at birth is female and who have not begun hormone therapy will be allowed to participate in women’s sports.
The NAIA President emphasized the need to preserve fair competition was what motivated the group’s decision.
«We know there are a lot of different opinions out there,» NAIA President Jim Carr told CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd. «For us, we believed our first responsibility was to create fairness and competition in the NAIA.»
He said the NAIA also believes its new policy aligns with the reasons Title IX was created.
«You’re allowed to have separate but equal opportunities for women to compete,» Carr said.
Naturally, that message about protecting fair competition didn’t get across to various trans activists who are already condemning the Association.
