In a move that has sparked controversy, the Georgia Board of Regents, which governs the state's 26 public universities and colleges, has unanimously voted to request the NCAA and the National Junior College Athletic Association to prohibit transgender women from participating in women's sports.
This decision aligns with the promise made by Republican Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones to enact legislation that would exclude transgender women from athletics in public colleges.
As reported by The New York Post, Jones, who is a potential candidate for the state's governorship in 2026, commended the regents for safeguarding "the work female athletes put into competing." The board anticipates that the NCAA and the National Junior College Athletic Association will align with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics' regulations, which largely excluded transgender women from sports in April.
The NAIA's revised policies only permit athletes assigned female at birth and who have not undergone hormone therapy to compete in women's sports. However, all athletes are still eligible to participate in NAIA-sponsored male sports.
Among the 25 schools with sports programs under the regents' jurisdiction, four are members of the National Junior College Athletic Association, five belong to the NAIA, and the remaining 16 are part of the NCAA. This includes Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia, both NCAA members and college football powerhouses.
The NCAA began adhering to the national and international standards for each sport in August, a shift from its 2010 policy that required one year of testosterone suppression treatment and documented testosterone levels before any championship competitions.
Chris McGraw, the Board of Regents secretary and chief lawyer, noted that the junior college federation allows transgender students to participate in women's athletics in certain cases, but there is little consistency among the three associations.
However, this decision has not been without its detractors. Jeff Graham of Georgia Equality, an LGBTQ rights organization, argued that the higher-learning system "should recognize the importance of diversity at many levels and should be there to care about the educational experience of all of their students regardless of their gender or gender identity."
The issue of transgender athletes' participation in women's sports was a heated topic in Georgia's General Assembly in 2022. Lawmakers debated and eventually passed a law allowing the Georgia High School Association to regulate transgender women's participation in sports. The association swiftly used this power to ban transgender women from participating in any sports events it sponsors.
This law was enacted following criticism of Georgia Tech for allowing a transgender athlete from another school's team to compete in the NCAA swimming championships held on its grounds in 2022. This latest move by the Board of Regents further underscores the ongoing debate surrounding transgender athletes' participation in sports.
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