The National Women’s Law Center filed a motion in federal court this week seeking to intervene in a lawsuit demanding the NCAA ban transgender women from participating in women’s college sports teams and using restrooms and locker rooms that correspond with their gender identity.
In Gaines v. NCAA, several athletes and former athletes allege the NCAA’s already strict policies governing sports eligibility for trans student-athletes discriminate against cisgender women. Under political pressure, a few years ago, the NCAA scaled back its previous policy that offered a clear path to inclusion for trans women in college who were receiving gender-affirming medical care.
The NLWC claims plaintiffs, falsely purporting to speak on behalf of a national class of all past, present, and future NCAA women athletes, want to force the NCAA to categorically ban women and girls who are transgender from playing sports.
Represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), ACLU of Georgia, and Cooley LLP, NWLC is asking to be officially joined as a party to the case and has filed a motion to dismiss, citing severe flaws in legal and factual statements presented in the complaint.
“As a women’s rights organization that has advocated for strong Title IX enforcement since its inception, we feel called upon to defend against extremist attacks on our trans sisters — attacks that weaponize and distort the language of women’s rights to justify discrimination and bigotry. Let me be clear: we firmly support the inclusion of women and girls who are transgender in all aspects of school — including sports, restrooms, and locker rooms — as a matter of both civil rights law and of human rights,” said Shiwali Patel, director of Justice for Student Survivors and Senior Counsel at the National Women’s Law Center, in a statement. “We are proud to be entering this important legal battle to represent the wider women’s rights movement and ensure extremists cannot turn Title IX on its head and misuse it as a weapon to enforce bullying and exclusion of students who want — and deserve — to play college sports with their peers.”
If the request is approved by the federal district court in Georgia, NWLC will have full participation in all future proceedings, including any potential trial.
Alongside bans on gender-affirming healthcare and abortion bans, statewide policies that categorically ban trans athletes from participation have passed in 23 states in just the last three years. In August 2023, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals blocked enforcement of Idaho’s ban on transgender athletes and, in April 2024, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a request to enforce West Virginia’s state ban against Becky Pepper-Jackson, a 13-year-old trans girl and middle school track athlete. The Attorney General of West Virginia has announced his intent to seek Supreme Court review of the latter ruling.
