Texas attorney general Ken Paxon wants the NCAA to take its transgender policy a step further and require gender-testing for athletes who compete in women’s sports.
As reported by The Associated Press, Paxon filed a lawsuit in December in state district court and on last week added a filing that seeks a court order requiring gender screening for athletes and an injunction intended to prevent the NCAA from “falsely and deceptively claiming that only biological women may participate in female-specific competitions.”
Earlier this month, President Donald Trump signed an executive order intended to ban transgender athletes from women’s and girls’ sports. The next day, the NCAA changed its participation policy for transgender athletes, limiting competition in women’s sports to athletes who were assigned female at birth.
Paxton, a Republican, doesn’t think the NCAA move goes far enough because, saying the NCAA has no mechanism for screening the sex of athletes, The Associated Press reported.
“In practice, the NCAA’s lack of sex-screening has allowed (and will continue to allow) biological men to surreptitiously participate in ‘women’s’ sports categories,” the lawsuit claims.
The NCAA's 1,100 member schools are responsible for certifying athlete eligibility for practice and competition. Local, state and federal legislation can supersede NCAA rules.
NCAA president Charlie Baker said publicly in December that he knew of only 10 transgender athletes out of more than 500,000 participating in NCAA sports. The association's revised policy permits athletes assigned male at birth to practice with women’s teams and receive benefits such as medical care. An athlete assigned female at birth who has begun hormone therapy can practice with a women’s team but cannot compete on a women’s team without risking the team’s eligibility for championships.
Paxton also said the NCAA has left “ample opportunity for biological men to alter their birth records and participate in women’s sports,” a claim the association said is not true.
“The policy is clear that there are no waivers available, and student-athlete assigned male at birth may not compete on a women’s team with amended birth certificates or other forms of ID,” the NCAA said in an emailed response to The Associated Press.
Paxton’s filing refers to an announcement this month by World Athletics that part of its new recommended guidelines would bring back gender-testing, a practice that hasn’t been part of track and field since the 1990s. Most of the screenings can be done by swabbing the inside of an athlete’s cheek, according to the AP.
