Female athletes are demanding that the National Collegiate Athletic Association stop allowing natural men to compete in women’s collegiate sports.
The group protested Thursday outside the NCAA convention in San Antonio and personally delivered a letter threatening legal action.
Many current and former collegiate athletes, including swimmers Riley Gaines and Marshi Smith, attended the protest and called on the NCAA to “take direct and immediate action to establish rules to keep women’s collegiate sports feminine.” “.
Footage of the protest shows the athletes and members of ICONS – Independent Council on Women’s Sports – reading their letter at the front of the convention with signs reading “Our Bodies, Our Sports”.
University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines competed against Lia Thomas last year and is calling on the NCAA to stop discriminating against female athletes
The letter provided to the NCAA states: “In the world of collegiate sports, it is impossible to create equal opportunities for both sexes (as required by Title IX) without all-women teams.
“Nevertheless, the NCAA implements a policy to allow and maintain male athletes on women’s teams, even as sports governing bodies and federal courts increasingly oppose this unjust and unfair policy that excludes young women from their own teams.”
Alongside the letter, the athletes and advocates for transgender people in sports said they would take legal action if the NCAA “fails to protect female athletes from sex discrimination.”
Marshi Smith, an NCAA champion and co-founder of ICONS, added, “The NCAA cannot choose which laws to follow.
It comes after an outcry against Lia Thomas (pictured with Gaines last year) – who became the first transgender athlete to win a national title
Alongside the letter, the athletes and advocates against transgender sport said they will take legal action if the NCAA “fails to protect female athletes from sex discrimination.”
Marshi Smith, an NCAA champion and co-founder of ICONS, also urges the NCAA to “protect” female athletes.
“They need to protect female athletes from gender discrimination or expect that we will be forced to take legal action to force them to do so.”
The letter requests that the NCAA “repeal all policies and rules permitting male athletes to serve on women’s teams and/or participate in women’s events.”
It comes after an outcry against Lia Thomas – who became the first transgender athlete to win a national title.
Gaines settled against Thomas last year and is asking the NCAA to stop discriminating against female athletes.
On Thursday, she said, “Today we personally want to say to the NCAA to stop discriminating against female athletes by delivering them a petition that we have collected nearly 10,000 signatures in just a few days.”
In March, Thomas, a University of Pennsylvania student, made history by becoming the first transgender athlete to win the NCAA Division I women’s 500-yard freestyle event.
The NCAA updated its transgender participation policy last January to align with the guidelines of the respective sports federations – shortly after, USA Swimming updated their policy
Gaines appeared alongside former President Donald Trump at the Conservative Political Action Conference to share her stance on the issue
The letter calls on the NCAA to “repeal all policies and rules permitting male athletes to serve on women’s teams and/or participate in women’s events.”
Both Thomas and Gaines have been nominated by their schools for NCAA Woman of the Year Awards.
During the 2018 and 2019 swim seasons, Thomas competed in the men’s division.
The health sciences major went on to refer to Thomas as her dead name and said she ranked no higher than 500 in the year before she became champion.
She said: “At the NCAA Championships, I saw a 6’4” male exposing male parts in our women’s locker room.
“To be perfectly clear, the anatomy that I and many other women have had to see confirms that Thomas is a male.”
Gaines said she then asked officials at the National Collegiate Athletic Association where she could change clothes “as I had no intention of undressing in front of a man.
“They informed me there were no safeguards in place for me to change in a room that Thomas could not access.
Both Thomas and Gaines have been nominated by their schools for NCAA Woman of the Year Awards. During the 2018 and 2019 swim seasons, Thomas competed in the men’s division.
Thomas previously competed on the UPenn men’s swim team for three years before making the switch in 2019
“In summary, the NCAA has placed an obligation on the woman not to undress in front of a biological man with biological parts who is sexually attracted to women. Let that sink.’
The NCAA updated its transgender participation policy last January to align with the guidelines of the respective sports federations – shortly after, USA Swimming updated their policy.
In US swimming, transgender athletes competing at the elite level must have had low testosterone levels – half of what Thomas was allowed to compete with – for at least 36 months before they are eligible to compete.
But the NCAA announced weeks later that a decision had been made not to change its testosterone policy at this time.
They stated that “the implementation of additional changes at this time could have an unfair and potentially adverse impact on schools and student-athletes intending to compete in the 2022 NCAA Women’s Swimming Championships.”
THE RULES FOR TRANSGENDER ATHLETES AND WHEN THEY CAN COMPETE FOR THE GENDER WILL SWITCH
Thomas previously competed on the UPenn men’s swim team for three years before making the switch in 2019 (pictured in 2016 and 2017 respectively).
Lia Thomas began hormone therapy in May 2019 while still competing as a man.
Under the US Swimming Rules, athletes had to have had low testosterone levels for 36 months to compete in the female category.
That meant Thomas couldn’t qualify for the NCAA Championship if they followed US swimming rules – as originally announced.
But the NCAA said it was allowed to compete because they refused to accept the 2021 threshold.
The NCAA committee said, “The subcommittee has determined that the implementation of additional changes at this time could have an unfair and potentially adverse impact on schools and student-athletes intending to compete in the 2022 NCAA women’s swimming championships.”
However, it is unclear what they will do next year.
