NCAA to change guidance to align with executive order on transgender athletes in women's sports

The NCAA is changing its guidance to align with President Donald Trump’s executive order on transgender athletes in women’s sports, president Charlie Baker announced Wednesday. According to the order, transgender athletes are not allowed to participate in women’s athletics.

 “The NCAA is an organization made up of 1,100 colleges and universities in all 50 states that collectively enroll more than 530,000 student-athletes,” the statement read. “We strongly believe that clear, consistent, and uniform eligibility standards would best serve today’s student-athletes instead of a patchwork of conflicting state laws and court decisions. To that end, President Trump’s order provides a clear, national standard.

“The NCAA Board of Governors is reviewing the executive order and will take necessary steps to align NCAA policy in the coming days, subject to further guidance from the administration. The Association will continue to help foster welcoming environments on campuses for all student-athletes. We stand ready to assist schools as they look for ways to support any student-athletes affected by changes in the policy.”

Baker previously said the NCAA was looking for more legal clarity regarding transgender athletes. He also estimated there are less than 10 transgender athletes participating in college sports.

“You have federal judges ruling on individual cases. You have states, 26, 27 states with one set of rules, a whole bunch of states with other sets of rules,” Baker said, via The Athletic. “I do think we would welcome some clarity somewhere on this, so that everybody has a general understanding about what the rules of the game are.”

Trump signed the executive order, titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” in a ceremony Wednesday. It’s the latest effort to restrict transgenderism, following a sweeping order on his first day. That made it U.S. policy to define an individual’s sex as only male and female and for those designations to be reflected on official government-issued documents such as IDs and passports, and in polices such as federal prison assignments.

“In recent years, many educational institutions and athletic associations have allowed men to compete in women’s sports,” the order states. “This is demeaning, unfair, and dangerous to women and girls, and denies women and girls the equal opportunity to participate and excel in competitive sports. Moreover, under Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 (Title IX), educational institutions receiving Federal funds cannot deny women an equal opportunity to participate in sports.

“As some Federal courts have recognized, “ignoring fundamental biological truths between the two sexes deprives women and girls of meaningful access to educational facilities.” … Therefore, it is the policy of the United States to rescind all funds from educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities, which results in the endangerment, humiliation, and silencing of women and girls and deprives them of privacy. It shall also be the policy of the United States to oppose male competitive participation in women’s sports more broadly, as a matter of safety, fairness, dignity, and truth.”