Citing fairness for female rivals, attorneys general from 28 U.S. states have urged the NCAA to remove the records, titles, honors, and other accomplishments of transgender athletes in women’s sports.
A letter sent Tuesday, July 22, formalized the initiative, which was spearheaded by Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch and backed by Republican attorneys general from all throughout the nation. The letter urges that the NCAA take additional steps to reverse the unjust displacement of female athletes by biological males participating in women’s sports.
According to a statement from Fitch, the NCAA must give back to female athletes the records, titles, honors, and recognitions they were due but were not given because of rules that permitted biological males to participate in female divisions.
The attempt coincides with a larger Trump administration initiative to prohibit transgender girls and women from participating in female sports. On February 5, shortly after taking office in January, President Donald Trump issued an executive order prohibiting transgender athletes from playing school sports. Noncompliance puts institutions at risk of losing federal funds.
The NCAA’s prior policy, which let transgender athletes to compete according to sport-specific rules correlated with testosterone levels and in line with Olympic standards, was abandoned in response to the executive order. The new rule, which went into force immediately across all levels, states that athletes can only participate in women’s sports if they were assigned female at birth.
Republican attorneys general argue that more has to be done in spite of the policy change, especially when it comes to reexamining previous events and accomplishments involving transgender athletes. Lia Thomas, a former swimmer at the University of Pennsylvania, is mentioned in the letter. In 2022, she became the first openly transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I championship.
The Department of Education launched a Title IX investigation over the university’s choice to permit Thomas to compete after the executive order. The federal government terminated contracts worth about $175 million with the school in March. In a settlement reached on July 1, Penn agreed to remove Thomas’s records from the university and to ban transgender athletes from playing women’s sports. Her other NCAA competition placements including her victory in the 500-yard freestyle at the NCAA national championship, however, are still recorded.
According to the letter, the University of Pennsylvania made a significant move by reaffirming its adherence to President Trump’s directives and Title IX. The NCAA and other universities ought to do the same.
The NCAA refused to confirm any changes when questioned about the request to delete documents retrospectively. The group said its policy now complies with the administration’s directive in a statement to USA TODAY Sports. It also mentioned how male practice players have long been a part of women’s teams.
Speaking to a Senate committee last December, NCAA President Charlie Baker underlined that, among the 510,000 student-athletes who play collegiate sports across the country, less than 10 transgender athletes presently compete under the NCAA’s auspices.
