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The NAIA, representing mostly small colleges,
is less influential than the larger National Collegiate Athletic
Association (NCAA) but its decision carries some political
weight in the wider U.S. debate about transgender rights.
"Only NAIA student-athletes whose biological sex is female may
participate in NAIA-sponsored female sports," the association
said in its policy.
Female athletes who have begun masculinizing hormone therapy may
participate in internal workouts, practices and team activities
but are banned from external competition. Any eligible athlete
may participate in men's sports, the policy said.
The vote by the association's Council of Presidents was 20-0,
ESPN reported.
Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, which
advocates for LGBTQ rights, criticized the policy as a "cowardly
decision that enables discrimination."
The NAIA has 83,000 athletes at 250 schools while NCAA has more
than 500,000 athletes at 1,100 member schools, according to
their respective websites.
The NCAA transgender policy requires transgender athletes to
have undergone testosterone suppression treatment for at least
one year and to test below certain levels at different times of
the year.
The International Olympic Committee policy allows each sporting
federation to set its own regulations.
For example, in 2022, the swimming regulator FINA said
transgender women must have suppressed male puberty before age
12 or must not have reached a certain level of male puberty.
That policy was announced shortly after University of
Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas, a transgender woman who had
recently transitioned, won the NCAA 500-yard freestyle
championship, which critics labeled unfair.
Last month, more than a dozen female athletes sued the NCAA for
allowing Thomas to compete, alleging the transgender
participation policy violated their civil rights under Title IX,
the federal law banning discrimination based on sex in
education.
(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Richard Chang)
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