Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the NCAA, accusing the college athletics association of misleading fans by allowing transgender athletes to compete in women’s events.
The lawsuit argues that allowing athletes assigned male at birth to play in women’s sports would confuse and deceive consumers who attend sporting events that the NCAA has advertised as exclusive to female athletes. It is claimed that
“Texas consumers have a legal right to spend their hard-earned money on the sports that are important to them without being misled. “To protect consumers, the NCAA’s misleading and illegal conduct should be halted,” the lawsuit filed in Lubbock state district court says.
In a Sunday news release announcing the lawsuit, Paxton asked the court to prohibit the NCAA from allowing biological males to participate in women’s sports in Texas, or if transgender athletes She said she wants the NCAA to stop advertising competitive events as “for women.”
“The NCAA is intentionally and knowingly endangering the safety and well-being of women by deceptively converting women’s competition into co-ed competition,” he said. “For example, when people watch a women’s volleyball game, they expect to see women playing against other women, but not biological males pretending to be something different than they are. No, there is no radical ‘gender theory’ in college sports.
Her statement appeared to be a reference to San Jose State University’s women’s volleyball team, which was boycotted this year by several opponents who refused to play because it included a transgender player. A federal judge last month denied a motion to prevent the team members from competing in the Mountain West Conference Tournament.
The NCAA on Monday declined to comment on the allegations in Paxton’s legal complaint and reiterated its commitment to enforcing Title IX, the landmark federal law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in educational programs and activities. did.
“College sports are the highest stage for women’s sports in America, and while the NCAA does not comment on pending litigation, the association and its members continue to advance Title IX and make unprecedented investments in women’s sports. and ensure fair competition at all NCAA Championships,” communications director Michelle Brutlag Hosick said in an email.
The NCAA did not respond to questions about how many of its athletes are transgender. NCAA President Charlie Baker said during a Congressional hearing last week that out of the NCAA’s more than 500,000 athletes, fewer than 10 transgender athletes currently compete. said.
Transgender participation in women’s sports is an increasingly difficult topic. President-elect Donald Trump has said he wants to “completely eliminate transgender lunacy from our schools,” including keeping athletes assigned male at birth from women’s sports teams. Some Democratic lawmakers have criticized the idea of transgender athletes competing in women’s sports.
Since 2010, NCAA policy has required trans athletes assigned male at birth to complete at least one year of testosterone suppression treatment before being eligible to compete on women’s teams.
Paxton’s lawsuit says it is “unfair and unsafe” for trans athletes to compete in women’s sports.
“The inherent unfairness with which men compete against women in women’s sports is an important fact that influences consumers’ decisions about whether to purchase goods and services associated with women’s sporting events.” the complaint states.
Correction (Dec. 23, 2024, 6:35 p.m. ET): A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that NCAA President Charlie Baker spoke before a Congressional committee. It wasn’t earlier this week, it was December 18th.
Contributed by Austin Mullen.
