“The NCAA is intentionally and knowingly jeopardizing the safety and wellbeing of women by deceptively changing women’s competitions into co-ed competitions,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said. “When people watch a women’s volleyball game, for example, they expect to see women playing against other women—not biological males pretending to be something they are not. Radical ‘gender theory’ has no place in college sports.”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against the NCAA, accusing the association of misleading the public by continuing to allow transgender athletes to compete in women’s events.
Paxton’s complaint argues that, by letting biologically-male athletes compete in women’s events, the NCAA is, in effect, deceiving consumers.
“Texas consumers are legally entitled to spend their hard-earned dollars on the competitions that matter to them, without being misled,” the lawsuit alleges. “This Court should enjoin the NCAA from its misleading and unlawful conduct to protect Texas consumers from the NCAA’s false, deceptive, and misleading practices.”
In a press release announcing the lawsuit, Paxton said that he wants the court to either prohibit the NCAA from allowing biological males to compete in women’s sports in Texas or to issue a ruling preventing the NCAA from categorizing competitions as “women’s” if and when transgender athletes are present.
“The NCAA is intentionally and knowingly jeopardizing the safety and wellbeing of women by deceptively changing women’s competitions into co-ed competitions,” Paxton said. “When people watch a women’s volleyball game, for example, they expect to see women playing against other women—not biological males pretending to be something they are not. Radical ‘gender theory’ has no place in college sports.”
The NCAA has declined media requests for comment. Instead, the association emphasized that it is committed to enforcing federal legislation prohibiting sex-based discrimination in educational programs and activities.
“We’re a national governing body, and we follow federal law,” NCAA President Charlie Baker said in a recent statement.
Baker, writes The Hill, said that the NCAA cannot and will not ban transgender athletes from its competitions because federal courts have repeatedly ruled on the side of transgender participants.
“College sports are the premier stage for women’s sports in America, and while the NCAA does not comment on pending litigation, the Association and its members will continue to promote Title IX, make unprecedented investments in women’s sports and ensure fair competition in all NCAA championships,” NCAA Communications Director Michelle Brutlag Hosick told NBC News.
The NCAA, notes NBC News, has a longstanding policy requiring transgender athletes who are biologically male to complete at least one year of testosterone-suppression treatment before they can compete on women’s teams.
Nevertheless, Paxton’s lawsuit alleges that the association’s practices remain “unfair and unsafe.”
“The inherent unfairness of men competing against women in women’s sports is a material fact impacting consumer’s decisions about whether to purchase goods and services associated with women’s sporting events,” the lawsuit says.
Sources
Ken Paxton sues NCAA over transgender athletes’ participation in women’s college sports
Texas AG Paxton sues NCAA for allowing transgender women to compete
Texas attorney general sues NCAA over transgender athletes competing in women’s sports
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