GOP lawmakers push NCAA to ban trans athletes in women’s sports

A group of GOP lawmakers pushed the NCAA in a Tuesday letter to “update” its “student-athlete participation policy to require that only biologically female students participate in women’s sports.”

“Amid the Biden—Harris administration’s unprecedented assault on Title IX, we write to urge the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to update your student-athlete participation policy to require that only biologically female students participate in women’s sports,” the letter, addressed to NCAA President Charlie Baker and signed by GOP senators including Sens. Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.), Tommy Tuberville (Ala.), Katie Britt (Ala.) and Joni Ernst (Iowa), reads.

Earlier this year, hundreds of current and former collegiate, professional and Olympic athletes pushed for the NCAA to not ban transgender athletes from women’s college sports. Those who signed that letter included ex-WNBA star Sue Bird and former U.S. Women’s National Team soccer phenom Megan Rapinoe.

“We implore you, the NCAA’s highest governing body and members of an organization focused on supporting the wellbeing of not just athletes but sport itself, to focus on the long-documented needs of NCAA athletes of all genders,” the athletes’ letter read.

In their letter, the GOP senators argued that “science” on the issue “is clear.”

“Males have inherent athletic advantages over females due to their anatomy and biology —including through having larger hearts, higher red blood count, greater lung capacity, longer endurance, larger muscle mass, differences in bone density and geometry, and lower body fat,” the senators’ letter continues. “Consistently, when adult males’ athletic performance is contrasted with adult females’ athletic performance in sports relying on endurance, muscle strength, speed, and power, males dominate, outperforming females by 10 to 30 percent.”

Pro-LGBTQ advocates, including the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), have pushed back against bans on transgender athletes from competing in sports with others who have similar gender identities. 

“Transgender youth experience all kinds of mistreatment (such as harassment, harsher discipline, or physical or sexual assault) because of their gender identity,” the HRC said on a webpage about transgender and nonbinary athletes. 

“There are many very real challenges that face transgender youth, including mistreatment in schools, family rejection, threats of physical violence, and other discrimination,” the page continued. “Anti-trans sports bans risk further marginalizing young people who already face tremendous challenges in school. Proponents of these bans suggest that trans athletes are pretending to be trans in order to do well at sports — ignoring entirely the incredible stigma trans youth face.”

In a statement emailed to The Hill, the NCAA said, “College sports are the premier stage for women’s sports in America and the NCAA will continue to promote Title IX, make unprecedented investments in women’s sports and ensure fair competition for all student-athletes in all NCAA championships.”

—Updated Aug. 7 at 10:12 a.m.