There will be no transgender athletes competing in women’s sports in the NAIA. That was the decision handed down by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Council of Presidents Monday. They approved the new policy on a 20-0 vote.
As reported by ESPN, according to the policy, all athletes may participate in NAIA-sponsored male sports, but only athletes whose biological sex at birth is female and who have not begun hormone therapy will be allowed to participate in women’s sports. An athlete who has begun hormone therapy can participate in workouts and practices with a women’s team, but not in actual competition.
NAIA President Jim Carr told the Associated Press a “responsibility to fairness” was the driving force in enacting this policy.
The NAIA oversees more than 250 small colleges across the U.S., including Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Arizona Christian University, Benedictine-Mesa, Park-Gilbert University, and Ottawa University.