NCAA changes transgender women in sports policy to follow Trump's order
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
The NCAA logo at the University of Dayton Arena in 2023. Photo: Andy Lyons/Getty Images
The NCAA announced Thursday that it's changing its policies to comply with President Trump's executive order banning transgender women from women's sports.
The big picture: The organization, which regulates athletics for 1,100 colleges, indicated two months ago that it has fewer than 10 transgender student-athletes among about 530,000.
- NCAA president Charlie Baker did not specify if those student-athletes were transgender men or transgender women.
Driving the news: The new policy, effective immediately, limits competition in women's sports to those assigned female at birth, although it does allow students assigned male at birth to practice with women's teams.
- Students assigned male at birth may compete in men's categories or in mixed men's and women's events.
- The new rule "applies to all student-athletes regardless of previous eligibility reviews under the NCAA's prior transgender participation policy."
Zoom in: Jack Turban, who researches gender, sexuality and mental health, resigned from an NCAA committee on Thursday in response to the ban.
- "I cannot in good conscience participate in this kind of politicization of science and medicine at the expense of some of our most vulnerable student athletes," he wrote.
- Turban, a child psychiatrist, served on the Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports.
What they're saying: "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," Baker said in statement.
- "To that end, President Trump's order provides a clear, national standard," Baker added.
- Trump called the NCAA decision "a victory for common sense" in a White House statement released on Thursday.
Go deeper: Trump executive order bans transgender athletes from women's sports
Editor's note: This story has been updated with psychiatrist Jack Turban's resignation from an NCAA committee and a White House statement.
