Loading ...NAIA bans transgender (male) athletes from competing in women’s sports.
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) governs 241 small colleges. Vote was unanimous, 20-0.
The NAIA Council of Presidents approved the policy in a 20-0 vote. The NAIA, which oversees some 83,000 athletes at schools across the country, is believed to be the first college sports organization to take such a step.
According to the transgender participation policy, all athletes may participate in NAIA-sponsored male sports but only athletes whose biological sex assigned at birth is female and who have not begun hormone therapy will be allowed to participate in women’s sports.
Havekost expects lawsuits will follow and challenge the NAIA policy on the basis of Title IX laws. “I feel like at some point, it will have to be addressed,” she said. “It’s a really complex issue. It might take a Supreme Court ruling.”