Time is ticking for the NCAA to change its transgender policy and protect women’s sports
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When the NCAA meets in Nashville, From January 14-17, will NCAA President Charlie Baker lead the fight to change course in women’s sports? This year’s annual meeting is being held at a crucial time. Donald Trump will soon be sworn in as the nation’s 47th president – victory is well and truly won on this issue. The Republican majority in Congress is preparing to vote on the Act to Protect Women and Girls in Sports.
The handwriting appears to be on the wall for the NCAA to disband him destructive trans-inclusive agenda in women’s sports. Baker has a chance to seize the moment and turn the page on the drama, renewing the NCAA’s commitment to female athletes.
But judging by his recent appearance at a Senate hearing on sports gambling, the prospects for that are not bright. Baker made the unmistakable impression that his message to female athletes had nothing to do with commitment to a solution, but with shirking responsibility.
“To be honest, my dear, I don’t care.”
Female athletes are fighting the NCAA to keep their sport from being destroyed. FILE: Protesters chant during the program of speeches at the “Our Bodies, Our Sports” rally for the 50th anniversary of Title IX at Freedom Plaza on June 23, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Now that a federal court in Kentucky issued a national ruling against the Biden administration’s overhaul of Title IX, perhaps he should. For more than a decade, the NCAA has been waging a progressive crusade to change “sex” to mean the self-defined “gender” under Title IX. What was just struck down in federal court was the NCAA’s key defense to support its policy and its arguments in court.
The odds that the NCAA could now lose two landmark lawsuits by female athletes directly challenging its trans policies have increased dramatically. One would think that Baker would be looking for the nearest ramp by rallying his member institutions to approve the return of women’s sports to women only.
The convention agenda suggests nothing of the sort. Baker will try to prove that he and the board care about women’s sports by pointing to the noticeable increase in viewership of women’s varsity sports and the addition of women’s wrestling to the college lineup as a win for women.
These successes cannot be mistaken for progress. The NCAA may claim to be adding a new “women’s” sport, but NCAA women’s wrestling will use a loose testosterone-reducing standard defined by USA Wrestling, allowing men to qualify to wrestle as “women.”
Progress should be defined by what happened for female athletes competing under the National Association of Interscholastic Athletics (NAIA) banner. The governing body of the NAIA acted with clarity and common sense by unanimously adopting a transparticipation policy stating that women’s sports are only for athletes whose natal gender is female. No man who identifies as a woman may compete in NAIA-sponsored women’s sports, ensuring the safety and fairness of competition for all women.
During his last appearance on Capitol Hill, Baker appeared indifferent when pressed about the NCAA’s violation of federal law by prioritizing men’s access to women’s competition and locker rooms over the rights and safety of female athletes.
Baker’s answer? if female athletes have a problem with men in their spaces – women have the opportunity to look for alternatives.
Baker continued under oath to mislead the senators, arguing that five federal courts restrain the NCAA from keeping its trans participation policy in place. The truth is that no federal court has ever ruled on the legitimacy of the NCAA’s trans policy in college sports.
NCAA President Charlie Baker gets a chance to defend women’s sports at the group’s annual meeting. But will they do anything about the crisis? (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Baker also claimed that “fewer than 10” trans athletes compete in the NCAA. There is no way to verify the fact because the NCAA will not disclose who is competing as a trans-identifying athlete.
The NCAA also denies that dozens of female collegiate athletes are at greater risk of physical injury and loss of competitive opportunities, placings and records when just one trans-identifier like Lia Thomas competes as a woman, pushing female teammates and competitors off the podium. and out of the record books.
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What Baker and the NCAA have never acknowledged is that the NCAA’s radical transgender policy was never legitimate. The NCAA has no license to redefine the simple meaning of “sex-based” in college sports or to delete Title IX’s sex-discrimination protections that all member schools receiving federal funds must comply with.
The NCAA’s losing battle is facing an even harsher public spotlight. Bravery has become commonplace as female athletes, coaches and parents fight for women’s rights and against abuse by school administrators and sports institutions.
The NCAA may claim to be adding a new “women’s” sport, but NCAA women’s wrestling will use a loose testosterone-reducing standard defined by USA Wrestling, allowing men to qualify to wrestle as “women.”
This is the story of first losses by Boise State University and others in the Mountain West and the University of Nevada women’s volleyball team that refused to play against San Jose State University with a male player on the team.
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Instead of looking out for the backs of female athletes, the NCAA has placed an unfair and misplaced trans-agenda on the backs of women, now admitting that it “didn’t do any research” on the harms of its trans-inclusion policy on female athletes.
Baker has an opportunity to change course. Will he take it?
