On Thursday, a coalition of women’s advocacy groups demonstrated outside the NCAA convention. They hand-delivered a formal legal notice and petition backed by thousands of individuals threatening to sue the organization if it does not reverse its pro-transgender policy.
NBC disclosed that they personally informed the NCAA to end discrimination against female athletes by delivering them a complaint with nearly 10,000 signatures gathered in just a few days.
Former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines stated this at the beginning of a protest that featured a parade of female sportspeople demanding the exact same thing.
Demands
The legal complaint letter comes from ICONS, a non-profit organization of female athletes, trainers, experts, and guardians.
It was handed to the NCAA Office of Legal Affairs during the 2023 NCAA Convention in San Antonio, according to a news release from the organization.
.@NCAA: we’re talking to you. It’s time stop discriminating against female athletes & protect #womenssports! @ADFLegal#Biologymatters #savewomenssports @icons_women #sexnotgender pic.twitter.com/o30lypBMMj
— Christiana (Holcomb) Kiefer (@ChristianaADF) January 12, 2023
The letter informs the NCAA that legal action would be taken to require it to safeguard female athletes from sex-based discrimination if it fails to do so.
In order to prevent legal action, they emphasized the NCAA must swiftly adhere to civil rights legislation by taking the following steps:
- Repealing any policies and practices that permit male athletes to take roster slots on women’s teams and/or compete in women’s competitions
- Establishing and enforcing standards to maintain the femininity of women’s sports
- Forcing colleges to offer female athletes single-gender locker facilities
According to NBC, the NCAA’s Transgender Student-Athlete Participation Policy was revised a year ago, adopting a sport-by-sport approach that aligns with the U.S. and worldwide Olympic committees.
In order to address operational concerns, the NCAA Board of Governors last week approved a proposal to defer the policy’s complete execution until the 2023-2024 academic year. The policy was initially scheduled to be fully implemented by August.
Protect Women!
Athlete Ally, a pro-LGBTQ rights organization, told CNN that they want all competitors, including transgender and nonbinary athletes, to be safeguarded from violence.
They stated protests like these, which portray transgender persons as dangers to women’s sports, rather than the human beings they are, are inaccurate and incredibly hurtful, contributing to the violence and abuse that these youngsters already face.
However, women’s advocacy groups contend that biological females are harmed.
As per conservative Texas lawyer Jonathan Saenz, one of the speakers at the protest was erstwhile athlete Blake Allen, who objected to a male getting permitted to strip naked in the girls’ locker room.
When she tried to protest, the school banned all girls from entering the locker room.
Female athlete Blake Allen protested a male being allowed to undress in her girls locker room and when she protested, the school stopped all of the girls from using the locker room. She’s fighting back as an @ADFLegal client. pic.twitter.com/FGUvIET84r
— Jonathan Saenz (@jonathansaenzTX) January 12, 2023
The demand letter from ICONS says Title IX safeguards women, yet transgender restrictions discriminate against women.
The letter asserts it is impossible to give equal opportunity for both sexes in college athletics, as mandated by Title IX, without female-only teams.
Despite sports governing organizations and federal courts progressively rejecting these unjust and unequal regulations that ban young women from their own teams, the NCAA continues to enact and maintain a policy of admitting male players to women’s teams.
This article appeared in The Political Globe and has been published here with permission.
