Georgia Board of Regents Urges NCAA, NJCAA to Ban Trans-identifying Athletes from Women’s Sports
The University System of Georgia’s governing board is urging the NCAA and the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) to ban transgender-identifying women, who are biological men, from competing in women’s sports.
Last week, the University System of Georgia Board of Regents unanimously voted to send formal requests to these collegiate athletic federations, asking them to adopt policies similar to those of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). In April, the NAIA enacted a policy that all but bans transgender-identifying athletes from participating in women’s sports at its 241 academic institutions.
The Board of Regents oversees 25 schools, four of which are members of the NJCAA, five of which belong to the NAIA, and the remainder being NCAA members, including the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech.
Per Fox News, “All athletes are allowed to participate in NAIA-sponsored male sports. But the only athletes allowed to participate in women’s sports are those whose biological sex assigned at birth is female and who have not begun hormone therapy.”
Georgia gained national attention two years ago when the NCAA swimming and diving championships took place at Georgia Tech, where Lia Thomas, a biological male, won the women’s 500-meter freestyle. Female swimmers, including Riley Gaines, testified in August before a Georgia Senate committee, arguing that they were unable to compete fairly due to Thomas’ inclusion in the event.
“Biologically female student-athletes could be put at a competitive disadvantage when student-athletes who are biologically male or who have undergone masculinizing hormone therapy compete in female athletic competitions,” the resolution adopted by the Board of Regents on Tuesday said in part.
Previously, the Georgia General Assembly considered legislation that would have restricted transgender-identifying athletes from competing on school sports teams based on their gender identity rather than their biological sex. However, lawmakers decided against a total ban and left the decision to the Georgia High School Association’s executive committee. In 2022, the committee voted in favor of requiring high school athletes to compete according to their biological sex.
