The NCAA, the governing body for collegiate sports in the United States, prohibited transgender women from competing in women’s sports beginning immediately on Thursday, aligning with US President Donald Trump.
The policy change came one day after Trump signed an executive order attempting to bar transgender girls and women from participating in female sports, a directive that supporters claimed would restore fairness but critics argue violates the rights of a small minority of athletes.
“A student-athlete assigned male at birth may not compete on a women’s team,” the new policy states, basing gender on what doctors assign to infants at birth and what is recorded on their birth records.
Previously, the NCAA allowed transgender women to compete as long as their testosterone levels met sport-specific limits.
Trump celebrated the NCAA policy change with a social media post declaring, “IT IS NOW BANNED!”
“This is a fantastic day for women and girls across the country. Men should never have been allowed to compete against women in the first place, but I am proud to be the President who has SAVED Women’s Sports,” Trump stated, adding that he expected the Olympics to follow suit.
The change only affects a few athletes. In December, National Collegiate Athletic Association President Charlie Baker told a Senate panel that he knew of fewer than ten transgender athletes among the 530,000 students competing at 1,100 member schools.
However, the issue has sparked outrage in national politics, with Trump repeatedly raising the issue of transgender women and girls competing in female sports during his 2024 presidential campaign.
Trump has issued a series of directives to repeal transgender rights, including prohibiting transgender people from serving in the military, transferring transgender women inmates to men’s prisons, and attempting to prohibit healthcare related to gender transition for people under the age of 19. All have faced legal challenges.
Shortly after Trump signed his executive order in a ceremony at the White House, the NCAA praised it for setting a clear national standard in the face of “a patchwork of conflicting state laws and court decisions,” stating that its Board of Governors would adjust its policy accordingly.
The change was implemented in less than 24 hours and immediately affected all sports separated by gender. Member schools are responsible for certifying eligibility, and “the application of this policy may not be waived.”
According to the policy, transgender men can still compete in men’s sports if they meet all other eligibility requirements.
Athletes who were assigned female at birth and have begun hormone therapy, such as testosterone injections, may be unable to compete on a women’s team.
LGBTQ rights organizations slammed Trump’s executive order as unconstitutional and based on falsehoods and distortions about transgender individuals.
On Wednesday, Advocates for Trans Equality criticized the NCAA, saying in a statement, “A4TE condemns the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s move to pre-emptively comply with a blatantly discriminatory and unconstitutional policy.”
The Trump order also threatens to cut off federal funding for any high schools that allow transgender girls to compete in female sports, as well as to put pressure on the International Olympic Committee to ban trans athletes and deny visas to trans women and girls seeking to compete in the United States.
The IOC allows transgender athletes to compete as long as the competition is fair.
In response to Trump’s orders, the committee was noncommittal, saying in a statement, “Working with the respective International Sports Federations, the IOC will continue to explain and discuss the various topics with relevant authorities.”
