More than 400 current and former Olympic, professional and collegiate athletes signed a letter to the NCAA urging them to not ban so-called “transgender” athletes from women’s sports.
Separate letters from over 300 academics and about 100 advocacy groups were also sent to the NCAA. Among the signatories were left-wing activist athletes like Meghan Rapinoe and Sue Bird.
“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,” the letter from the athletes claimed. “By barring transgender athletes, you would be severely limiting the capacity of your member institutions to protect and support their athletes. Moreover, you would be actively disparaging transgender athletes – the same athletes you chose to protect when you agreed to serve on the Board of Governors.”
“We call on you to be on the right side of history and affirm that sport is truly for us all,” the letter added. “Do not ban transgender women from NCAA women’s sports.”
In a statement released by Athlete Ally, Rapinoe said, “The time is now for the NCAA and the nationwide athletic community to speak up and affirm that sports should be for everyone, including transgender athletes.”
The issue of transgender athletes competing against women garnered attention all over the world when Will “Lia” Thomas, a man who thinks he’s a woman, competed on the women’s swim team at the University of Pennsylvania after competing on the men’s team for three years. Predictably, Thomas robbed women of awards and opportunities. Not to mention, female athletes were forced to share a locker room with Thomas.
After this controversy, the NCAA adopted a sport-by-sport approach to the issue of transgender athletes. Swimming’s governing body then barred transgender people from competing against women, and Thomas launched a “secret” legal battle to overturn this policy, which Townhall covered.
And this month, the Biden administration released new rules to protect LGBTQ+ individuals under the federal civil rights legislation Title IX. Going forward, the basis of “sex” now encompasses the concept of “gender identity,” essentially erasing protections that were instilled for women and girls.
Since the release of the new regulations, the Independent Women’s Forum activated a nationwide campaign to drive more than 4,000 personalized letters from NCAA female athletes to the NCAA Board of Governors urging them to protect the integrity of women’s sports.
“Women’s teams are already missing almost $1.1 billion in athletic scholarship aid, as compared to their male peers, even after 52 years of federal law requiring equality in athletic scholarships,” one coalition letter stated. “We urge you to comply with federal law and the laws of 21 states and enact a policy protecting the integrity of women’s college sports.”