The NCAA, which regulates university athletics in the US, on Monday supported transgender athletes and said it would not hold championships in places that are not ‘non-discriminatory’.
As Republicans target transgender athletes in more than two dozen states, the governor’s NCAA board said it unequivocally supports the opportunity for transgender student athletes to compete in college sports.
It is said that its’ more inclusive ‘policy for transgender athletes, which requires the treatment of testosterone suppression for transgender women to compete in women’s sports, means that’ inclusion and fairness can exist for all student athletes, including transgender athletes. , at all sports levels. ‘
The board said it would monitor situations involving trans-athlete participation without specifically mentioning states that consider it prohibited or prohibited. It is said that the ‘environment’ can influence the location of championship games.
“In determining where championships are held, the NCAA policy stipulates that only places where hosts can commit themselves to providing an environment that is safe, healthy and without discrimination,” the statement said. “We will continue to monitor these situations closely to determine if NCAA Championships can be hosted in ways that welcome and respect all entrants.”
Asked if the statement means the NCAA will not hold championship games in countries that pass laws restricting the participation of trans athletes, a spokesman said: “The Board of Governors is monitoring the situation and has no decision on championships not taken. “
Advocates, many of whom call on sports organizations and businesses to take a stand, say the statement is a welcome development.
“Dangerous proposals across the country put transgender young people at risk,” Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen, deputy executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, said in a statement. “The damage is real and is felt very personally by transgender children who are just trying to live their lives as they really are. The NCAA makes it clear that their board of governors supports transgender athletes, and the board must hold the states that support this. harmful fit laws liable. “
Nearly 30 states are considering legislation banning transgender students from participating in school sports teams that match their gender identities, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. The measures are specifically intended to engage transgender girls.
Four states – Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas and Idaho – have banned it; a federal judge has stopped Idaho’s law from taking effect in August. The Government of South Dakota, Kristi Noem, has signed two executive orders restricting the participation of transatleans after it vetoed an earlier bill.
Proponents of the bill say transgender girls have an unfair advantage in sports, but trans advocates say lawmakers are creating a solution to a problem that does not exist. The Associated Press found that the sponsors of the bill in almost all countries considering bans were not aware of cases in which the participation of transgender girls caused problems.
Lawyers are awaiting a statement from the NCAA, which won seven championships from North Carolina in 2016 after Pat McCrory, then governor, signed HB 2, also known as the ‘bathroom bill’, requiring transgender people to use the bathrooms must use gender-appropriate on their birth certificates.
Last week, Tom Walton, the son of Walmart founder Sam Walton, also spoke out in response to bills targeting LGBTQ people in Arkansas, including the Transatlantic Act, and a law that would make transitional care, such as puberty blockers, prohibited for minors.
“We support Governor Asa Hutchinson’s recent veto on discriminatory policies and urge government, business and community leaders to consider the impact of existing and future policies that restrict basic freedoms and do not promote inclusivity in our communities and economy,” Walton said in the statement said. .
The legislature has Hutchinson’s veto too high.
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