sport news Transgender women are BANNED from competing in NAIA events as females: NCAA ... trends now
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Transgender women will no longer be welcome to compete as females in NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) competitions, the governing body voted Monday.
The NAIA's national convention, the Council of Presidents, announced the decision Monday, stating that beginning August 1, 'only students whose biological sex is female' can compete in women's NAIA sports.
Although not nearly as recognized or as powerful as the NCAA, the NAIA has 250 member schools from across the country and its athletes receive $1.3 billion in scholarship money, according to the organization website.
The NCAA has been at the center of the debate over trans women in female sports over the last few years. Most notably, Penn transgender Penn swimmer Lia Thomas sparked controversy by competing in the 2022 NCAA championships, while CeCe Telfer of Franklin Pierce caused a stir in 2019 by winning the women's Division II 400 meter hurdles after previously competing as a man.
In fact, Monday's NAIA decision comes as the NCAA faces a lawsuit from more than a dozen college athletes, who claim their Title IX rights were violated when Thomas competed at the 2022 national championships.
University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas reacts after an event in 2022
The lawsuit, filed last month in US District Court in Atlanta, details the shock Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines and other swimmers felt when they learned they would have to share a locker room with Thomas at the championships in Atlanta. It documents a number of races they swam in with Thomas, including the 200-yard final in which Thomas and Gaines tied for fifth but Thomas, not Gaines, was handed the
