Georgia Board of Regents wants NCAA to place ban on transgender athletes playing women's collegiate sports

The University System of Georgia Board of Regents, the governing body of the state's public universities and colleges, is asking a pair of prominent college athletic federations to institute bans on transgender women who seek to participate in women's sports.

Earlier this week, the regents unanimously voted to send requests to the NCAA and the National Junior College Athletic Association. The board is asking those two federations to comply with National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) policies. 

In April, the NAIA voted to all but ban transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports at its 241 mostly smaller academic institutions.

In 2022, the Georgia High School Association (GHSA) voted in favor of requiring students to compete in high school sports based on their gender at birth.

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Of the 25 schools governed by the regents that have sports programs, four are members of the National Junior College Athletic Association, five are members of the NAIA and the remaining 16 are NCAA members. The University of Georgia and Georgia Tech are NCAA members.

All athletes are allowed to participate in NAIA-sponsored male sports. But the only athletes allowed to participate in women’s sports are those whose biological sex assigned at birth is female and who have not begun hormone therapy.

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The state of Georgia was at the center of controversy two years ago during the NCAA swimming and diving championships at Georgia Tech. 

Lia Thomas, who was a member of the University of Pennsylvania swimming team at the time, won the women's 500-meter freestyle. Thomas previously competed with the men's team but later switched to the women's team while transitioning to female through hormone replacement therapy.

Several former collegiate women swimmers, including Riley Gaines, who participated in those events, gave testimony to a Georgia Senate committee in August. Those athletes argued they were put in a disadvantageous situation when they competed against Thomas. 

The former college swimmers also spoke out about their personal experiences when they shared a locker room with Thomas. 

"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," a portion of the resolution the Board of Regents adopted Tuesday stated.

The Georgia General Assembly previously weighed a bill to restrict transgender athletes from being a part of school sports teams that align with their gender identity. The legislation would have mandated that athletes participate in school sports teams that align with their gender at birth.

Georgia lawmakers stopped short of a complete ban and left the decision in the hands of the GHSA's executive committee. The committee ultimately moved forward with the ban two years ago.

Georgia Democratic lawmakers, along with transgender students and their parents, said placing a ban on transgender girls would be another form of discrimination for young people who they argued already faced prejudice. The group also cited the suicide rates among transgender teenagers.

However, Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who oversees the state's Senate, wants to revisit the issue of transgender women's participation in sports. Jones has committed to introducing a bill during next year's legislative session that would effectively ban transgender women from competing in sports at any of the state's public colleges.

"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," Jones said on Tuesday. "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."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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