University of Georgia Regents to NCAA — Ban Men from Playing on Women’s Sports Teams

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) allowed a man calling himself Lia Thomas to compete against women in the women’s swimming championship in 2022. He won the 500-yard freestyle race, which gained him the championship.

Afterward, the NCAA nominated Thomas, a man in drag, as Ivy League “Woman of the Year.”

Board of Regents Supports Female Athletes

Fox News reported that the University System of Georgia Board of Regents last week unanimously passed a resolution asking the NCAA to ban men from competing on women’s sports teams. They also asked the National Junior College Athletic Association to do the same. An excerpt:

Biologically female student-athletes could be put at a competitive disadvantage when student-athletes who are biologically male or who have undergone masculinizing hormone therapy compete in female athletic competitions,” read the second paragraph of the resolution the Board of Regents adopted Tuesday.

The Georgia High School Association requires students to participate in sports based on their sex at birth.

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), which represents smaller colleges, last April banned (PDF) men from competing against women unless they’re taking cross-sex hormones but allows men and women to participate in men’s sports.

Men taking estrogen maintain their physical advantage over women. The NAIA said that it is “imperative that the dignity and privacy of transgender athletes be respected.”

What about the dignity and privacy of women who don’t want to change clothes in front of men and who want to win competitions?

More Support for Female Athletes

“It took ~20 college girls suing the Georgia board of regents for them to denounce the @NCAA discriminatory policies,” Riley Gaines wrote on X. “They’re essentially admitting they agree with our reason behind suing them. They should immediately announce they won’t comply with these policies. Actions > words.”

Gaines tied for fifth place with Thomas in the 2022 NCAA swimming championship 200-yard freestyle race because he let the women win. He also threw the 100-yard freestyle race. He could have won all of them — easily. Perhaps he developed a conscience? More likely, he realized how terrible the optics would be if he dominated all the races.

Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones has been vocal about supporting these women.

“I want to thank the Board of Regents for taking action on an issue I have stressed as a priority and the Senate has led on in Georgia – protecting women’s sports,” he said. “The work female athletes put into competing should be protected at all cost, no matter the age. This action brings us one step closer toward achieving that ultimate goal.”

What About the Law?

The key to defeating this clear violation of Title IX — a law created to guarantee equal opportunity for women in schools and educational programs that receive federal funding — is for female athletes to forfeit games with teams that allow men to play. Their safety and fair competition depend on it, and it could cause of a groundswell of opposition.

The government is violating women’s privacy and putting them in physical danger because the Biden administration illegally reinterpreted the word “sex” to include sexual orientation and “gender identity.” Athletic governing bodies need to support female athletes fighting for fairness.

Photo credit: Josh Hallett (Creative Commons) —  Some rights reserved

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