NCAA prohibits transgender athletes in women’s sports

[Lori Dee]

NCAA prohibits transgender athletes in women's sports
Link to Full Article
The Hill - Sarah Fortinsky
02/06/25 5:28 PM ET

The NCAA announced Thursday it would no longer allow transgender athletes to compete in women's sports and would limit participation to those assigned female at birth.

The policy change, approved by the NCAA board of governors, comes one day after President Trump signed an executive order barring transgender athletes from competing in girls' and women's sports.

Transgender athletes are still eligible to participate in the men's category, under the updated policy.

Baker told a Senate panel that there are fewer than 10 transgender athletes he is aware of who currently compete in college sports, accounting for less than 0.002 percent of NCAA athletes nationwide.

At least one NCAA official resigned following the announcement Thursday. Jack Turban said on social media that he was resigning from the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports.

"Unfortunately, your recent decision to issue a blanket ban on trans female participation in women's sports does not align with [medical] or scientific consensus," Turban wrote in a letter to Baker. "I cannot in good conscience participate in this kind of politicization of science and medicine at the expense of some of our most vulnerable student-athletes."

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They didn't even wait for a court challenge. This is why lawsuits needed to flood the courts on day one. I hope that someday we see the largest class-action discrimination lawsuit in history bring all of these bigots to justice.

[Iztaccihuatl]

The NCAA just demonstrated that they are a bunch of spineless people, like so many others recently, including all those tech oligarchs.

[Sephirah]

The NCAA just demonstrated that they are a bunch of spineless people, like so many others recently, including all those tech oligarchs.

I can't decide if it's spineless, or brainwashed.

This recently appeared in my youtube suggestions:



The guy is unhinged. My big fear is that if there's another world war... it won't be countries like Russia, or North Korea, or China that people need to be worried about. My big fear is that it's going to be the world vs Donolf Trumpler. And it's going to be the US that tramples over everything to the point that everyone else says enough is enough.

Which is just crazy to even think about. But this guy seems hell bent on peeing everyone off. Causing as much chaos and adversity as he can, while he can. Backed by... I don't even know. I want to say people who are part of his cult of personality. But how can several hundred million people be taken in like that?

He seems to have some magical hold over the US. Like the ultimate kid being given the keys to the candy store. I don't understand it, but what's happening, and what it could lead to... it scares me.

[Karen_A]

This topic is not the hill to die on for us given everything...

The issue is one that many who otherwise support us, agree with.

Fighting this IMO will hurt us more than it can help us in this climate...

And realistically going through male puberty can give us an unfair advantage is some cases for many sports.

Restrooms and IDs/Passports can actually put many of us in physical and financial danger... Pressing the sport issues will just turn more against us IMO.

- Karen

[Lori Dee]

The problem is that once they have this, they will use it as leverage to ban every age from every sport.

They are doing the same thing with gender-affirming care for "children". People don't know that "children" do not receive gender-affirming care. No one under the age of 12 has ever received puberty blockers. If they would allow blockers, then they would not go through puberty and sports would be fair.

But that is not the agenda. The agenda is to get support to "protect women and children" and use that momentum to go after adults. If they were truly interested in fair play and equal treatment, they would not be focusing only on women's sports. Everyone seems to be okay with transgender anything playing in men's sports. It is still discriminating when you allow one thing but disallow it for the same group of people. It is still discrimination based on sex, which is illegal.

I understand what you are saying, that we have some things that should be higher priority. But if we give an inch they will take a mile.

[Karen_A]

I understand what you are saying, that we have some things that should be higher priority. But if we give an inch they will take a mile.

I think we need to be realistic... As i said too many agree with the sports ban...

Heck I've know someone who transitioned that adopted young girls that did not want those girls to have to compete against MTFs at the high school level.

It's a matter of practically picking battles when there are so many...

- Karen

[MaryT]

It is a very thorny subject.  I think that transgender athletes have as much right as anyone else to express themselves through their physical abilities.  However, it is difficult to PROVE that being AMAB does not confer any advantages in most sports. 

Even trans girls given hormone blockers, as things stand, could have an advantage because they are rarely given female hormones at the same age that AFAB girls start to produce them, which could lead to them growing taller than the average AFAB girl.  If the female hormones are eventually given after they would have produced male hormones, they could grow even taller than they would have if they had elected to grow up as physical boys.  We really need a world in which transgender children are given the appropriate hormones at the appropriate age.

In the meantime, is there no interest in the possibility of open categories of sports or even sports with handicaps?  I am sure that some AFAB women athletes would be only too happy to test their abilities against all cisgender and transgender athletes.

[MistressStevie]

In the meantime, is there no interest in the possibility of open categories of sports or even sports with handicaps?  I am sure that some AFAB women athletes would be only too happy to test their abilities against all cisgender and transgender athletes.

I want to believe that an open category where one makes informed decisions about all manner of performance enhancements is a long term solution.  Purists can stick to their traditions. 

[Jessica_Rose]

If everyone with a 'biological advantage' were prevented from playing sports, then only people of average height and weight would be able to play.

According to the CDC, the average height in America is around 5 feet 4 inches for women and 5 feet 9 inches for men.

Recent data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) suggests that the average weight of men in the US is 199.8 pounds. The average weight for women is 170.8 pounds.

So, only people AFAB who are 5ft 4in tall and weigh 170.8 pounds, or those AMAB who are 5ft 9in tall and weigh 199.8 pounds may participate.

If you really want to 'level the playing field' and make gender irrelevant, then gender must be removed from the equation. So, if you want sports to be 'fair', only people 5ft 6.5 inches tall weighing 180.8 pounds who are intersex may participate.

Love always -- Jessica Rose

[Iztaccihuatl]

If everyone with a 'biological advantage' were prevented from playing sports, then only people of average height and weight would be able to play.

According to the CDC, the average height in America is around 5 feet 4 inches for women and 5 feet 9 inches for men.

Recent data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) suggests that the average weight of men in the US is 199.8 pounds. The average weight for women is 170.8 pounds.

So, only people AFAB who are 5ft 4in tall and weigh 170.8 pounds, or those AMAB who are 5ft 9in tall and weigh 199.8 pounds may participate.

If you really want to 'level the playing field' and make gender irrelevant, then gender must be removed from the equation. So, if you want sports to be 'fair', only people 5ft 6.5 inches tall weighing 180.8 pounds who are intersex may participate.

Love always -- Jessica Rose

You missed one point: Since we are having a generous mindset we do allow folks under 5'6.5" and less than 180.8lbs to participate as well, since they presumedly don't pose a threat. (We'll conveniently omit the fact that in some sports like gymnastics the smaller folks have an advantage)

[MaryT]

It is a very thorny subject.  I think that transgender athletes have as much right as anyone else to express themselves through their physical abilities.  However, it is difficult to PROVE that being AMAB does not confer any advantages in most sports. 
...

Difficult but not impossible.  A good sport to start with would be boxing, with which the anti-trans-in-sports brigade seem to have a particular problem.  For example, on the website

We Need to Refer to Male Athletes as Male

Martina Navratilova presents her arguments, some of which, from the title onwards, readers may find distressing.  One of her relevant "scientific" arguments against transgender women competing in boxing is

" A man's punch is 162 percent stronger than a woman's."

That may well be true.  One reason is that the average man is significantly larger and heavier than the average woman.  However, boxers are usually matched against opponents of similar weights, so that advantage would be significantly reduced even if a cisgender man fought a cisgender woman.  (An exception might be in the heaviest category if their is no upper limit to the weight but that problem can exist even when superheavyweight male boxers fight each other.)

Another reason is that men tend to be more muscular than women.  However, transgender women have hormone balances similar to those of cisgender women and typically lose much of their muscularity and strength, particularly in the upper body.  Besides, Martina herself proved that women can develop physiques so muscular that many cisgender male athletes must envy them.

I am sure that those reasons are enough make Martina's statement about punching power irrelevant.  However, it is one of the alleged advantages that could be scientifically tested.

As for her arguments about chromosomes, they are relevant only to those who want them to be.  Definitions of men and women existed before chromosomes were discovered and chromosomes do not have to define male and female.  Besides, the reason that cisgender men do not compete against cisgender women is because cisgender men sometimes have a physical advantage, not because their chromosomes are different.  In sports where transgender women do not have a physical advantage, there is no good reason why they should not compete against cisgender women.

[Lori Dee]

It's all smoke and mirrors.

They claim they are protecting "women" from "men" competing in their space. If that were true, they would start protecting transmen who compete in men's sports. By their own definition, they believe that transmen are still women, so why are they not protected?

I remember reading about Alex Tilinca back when he was in high school. No one complained about him sharing their locker room or bathroom. No one complained when he beat his cis-gendered competitors and became a champion bodybuilder.

https://www.outsports.com/2019/12/16/21002846/alex-tilinica-transgender-man-champion-bodybuilder-hofstra-university-college-freshman/

And Alex is not alone. Transmen weightlifters are beating their cis-gendered competitors and no one is complaining. Where is that physical advantage now?

If the powers that be were truly interested in the safety and fairness of sports it would be an all-or-nothing ban. Since it is clear that banning all from all sports is not fair and safety is not the real issue, they piecemeal rules that restrict some and allow others.

I agree with the comedian who said, "Get rid of all qualifying restrictions. Let athletes do all the drugs they want. Let's see what humans can really do." 

[Sephirah]

If that were true, they would start protecting transmen who compete in men's sports. By their own definition, they believe that transmen are still women, so why are they not protected?

This is the thing that bothers me most. It's utterly one sided. Either these people don't believe trans guys could ever have any sort of physical advantage, or they are just happy for anyone to join the "male club". I don't know which is worse.

It isn't fair, it's purely targeted based largely on public opinion... since that's how populism works. It's my opinion that no one thinks about trans guys in sports because guys don't generally whine they got beat by someone else, whoever they are, if they can get people to have sympathy for them. They don't tend to cry unfair advantage, and want to garner public sympathy. Trans women have a massive bullseye on their back because if they ever beat a cis woman, there's a huge, it could be argued manipulative, trans outcry. Guys don't do that. So no one really cares.

Even if a guy felt that way, he would never admit to getting beat by a "Girl". So it just isn't in the public eye. The other way round... happens literally all the time these days.