NCAA under pressure to act on transgender athlete inclusion

“To deny transgender athletes the fundamental right to be who they are, to access the sport they love, and to receive the proven mental and physical health benefits of sport goes against the very principles of the NCAA’s Constitution,” read one of the letters, which was signed by more than 400 current and former professional and collegiate athletes across sports, including retired U.S. women’s national soccer team star Megan Rapinoe, her partner and retired WNBA star Sue Bird and current transgender and nonbinary WNBA player Layshia Clarendon of the Los Angeles Sparks. A host of other WNBA, U.S. women’s national soccer team and National Women’s Soccer League players signed too.

“We call on you to be on the right side of history and affirm that sport is truly for us all,” the letter continued. “Do not ban transgender women from NCAA women’s sports.”

Athlete Ally also sent letters signed by more than 300 academic scholars and researchers and more than 100 queer-advocacy organizations with similar demands. The NCAA declined to comment.

Earlier this month, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, made up of mostly small private schools, voted to bar all transgender women from women’s sports, regardless of whether athletes have received gender-affirming hormone treatment. That’s not the only reason the conversation has gained steam this month. Even before the NAIA acted, transgender-rights activists believed the NCAA’s Board of Governors was going to hold a virtual vote on its transgender-athlete policy this week. Those same advocates now believe the vote will be postponed.

Either way, the end of April and beginning of May is typically a key rules-making period for the NCAA. In the past week, the organization has passed legislation around transferring and name, image and likeness (NIL) rules. Most new policies go into effect at the start of August, as fall sports are starting up.

The Board of Governors will meet virtually Thursday. At the same time, at its headquarters in Indianapolis, the NCAA will be holding its annual Inclusion Forum in Indianapolis. And though it’s unclear how much the board will discuss potential changes to the transgender-athlete policy, the group can generally make decisions at any point of the calendar.

Meanwhile, anti-transgender activists…