ATLANTA– The regents who govern Georgia’s 26 public universities and colleges voted Tuesday to ask the NCAA and another college athletics federation to ban transgender women from competing in women’s sports.
The unanimous vote came after Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, a Republican, promised to pass legislation in August that would ban transgender women from athletic events at public colleges.
The regents asked the NCAA and the National Junior College Athletic Association to align their policies with those of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. That federation voted in April to virtually ban transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports at the 241 mostly small colleges.
Of the 25 schools governed by the regents that have athletic programs, four are members of the National Junior College Athletic Association, five are members of the NAIA and the remaining 16 are NCAA members. The University of Georgia And Georgia Tech are NCAA members.
All athletes may participate in NAIA-sponsored men’s sports. But the only athletes allowed to participate in women’s sports are those whose biological sex was female at birth and who have not yet started hormone therapy.
The much larger NCAA began following standards set by national and international governing bodies for each sport in August. Before that, the NCAA Policy for the participation of transgender athletes since 2010, called for one year of testosterone suppression treatment and documented testosterone levels submitted before championships.
Board of Regents Secretary Chris McGraw said the junior college federation will allow some transgender students to participate in women’s athletics under certain circumstances.
Of the 25 schools under the board that have intercollegiate sports programs, five are NAIA members, four are members of the junior college federation and 16 are members of various NCAA divisions.
“These are three very different rules that our institutions’ athletic programs are currently subject to,” said McGraw, also the board’s chief attorney, who briefly introduced the resolution before it was approved without debate. Kristina Torres, a spokesperson, said board members and Chancellor Sonny Perdue had no further comment. Perdue is a former Republican governor, while the board members were appointed by Republican Governor Brian Kemp.
The NCAA did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on Tuesday.
Opponents say those seeking a ban on transgender participation in women’s and girls’ sports are seeking political gain.
Jeff Graham, executive director of LGBTQ+ rights group Georgia Equality, said the university system must “recognize the importance of diversity on many levels and be there to care for the educational experience of all their students, regardless of their sex or gender identity. ”
“I am certainly disappointed to see the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia spend its time passing resolutions that only serve to stigmatize transgender students and perpetuate misinformation about the reality of what is happening within athletic competitions involving transgender athletes involved,” says Graham. told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.
Jones, a possible Republican candidate for governor in 2026, thanked the regents for their vote in a statement Tuesday. Senate Republicans brought attention to the issue in August when they heard from five former college swimmers who are suing the NCAA and Georgia Tech on a transgender woman’s participation in the 2022 NCAA Women’s Swimming Championships at Atlanta University.
“The work that female athletes put into competition must be protected at all costs, regardless of age,” Jones said. “This action brings us one step closer to achieving that ultimate goal.”
Participation of transgender people in women’s sports shouted the General Assembly of Georgia into an uproar in 2022, when lawmakers passed a law that let the Georgia High School Association regulate transgender women’s participation in sports. The association, which consists mainly of public secondary schools, then banned participation by transgender women at sporting events it sponsors.
That law did not apply to colleges. According to the Movement Advancement Project, a group that lobbies for LGBTQ+ rights, 23 states have banned transgender students from participating in college sports, although a court ruled that Montana’s ban was unconstitutional in 2022.
The August hearing in the state Senate focused on eligibility for the 2022 NCAA swimming championships Lia Thomasa transgender woman who swam for the University of Pennsylvania and won the 500 meter freestyle. The witnesses and senators also targeted Georgia Tech, arguing that the event host shared blame for allowing Thomas to participate and share a locker room with other swimmers.
Georgia Tech and the university system have denied in court filings that they had a role in deciding whether Thomas would participate or which locker room she would use.