By Daniel Trotta
(Reuters) -The NCAA, the governing body for collegiate sports in the United States, on Thursday issued a new policy effective immediately that bans transgender women from competing in women’s sports.
The change came one day after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order attempting to exclude transgender girls and women from female sports, a directive that supporters said would restore fairness but critics contend infringes on the rights of a tiny minority of athletes.
“A student-athlete assigned male at birth may not compete on a women’s team,” the new policy says, basing sex on what doctors assign to infants at birth and what is marked on their birth records.
The change affects only a small number of athletes. National Collegiate Athletic Association President Charlie Baker told a Senate panel in December he was aware of fewer than 10 transgender athletes among the 530,000 competing at 1,100 member schools.
But the issue raised an uproar in national politics, with Trump regularly raising the issue of transgender women and girls competing in female sports during his 2024 campaign for president.
The NCAA previously allowed transgender women to compete as long as they met testosterone limits on a sport-by-sport basis.
Shortly after Trump signed his executive order in a ceremony at the White House, the NCAA welcomed it for providing a clear national standard in the face of “a patchwork of conflicting state laws and court decisions,” saying in a statement its Board of Governors would conform its policy accordingly.
The change came in less than 24 hours, applying immediately to all sports separated by gender. Member schools would be responsible for certifying eligibility and “the application of this policy may not be waived.”
Transgender men would still be eligible to compete in men’s sports as long as they meet all other eligibility requirements, the policy said.
However, an athlete who was assigned female at birth and who has begun hormone therapy such as testosterone injections may not compete on a women’s team.
LGBTQ rights organizations condemned Trump’s executive order as unconstitutional and based on misstatements and distortions about transgender people.
One group, Advocates for Trans Equality, on Wednesday singled out the NCAA for criticism, saying in a statement, “A4TE condemns the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s move to pre-emptively comply with a blatantly discriminatory and unconstitutional policy.”
(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Chris Reese and Deepa Babington)
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