Sue Bird & Megan Rapinoe join hundreds of athletes rallying the NCAA to prioritize trans inclusion

More than 400 current and former NCAA athletes – including longtime partners and LGBTQ+ greats Megan Rapinoe and Sue Bird – have signed on to an open letter urging the collegiate athletic association to stand up for trans inclusion in sports.

The letter to the NCAA Board of Governors opens by reminding the group that the NCAA is “meant to serve athletes and our wellbeing, to ensure the lifesaving power of sport is accessible to all athletes who compete in the championship and emerging sports and for NCAA-member institutions – including transgender athletes.”

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It continues, “To deny transgender athletes the fundamental right to be who they are, to access the sport they love, and to receive the proven mental and physical health benefits of sport goes against the very principles of the NCAA’s Constitution.”

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The NCAA’s current policy on trans athletes has been in place since 2022 and allows the national governing bodies for each sport to set their own standards. For the decade or so prior to that policy, trans women were required to have been undergoing testosterone suppression for at least a year before competing.

The letter comes as the NCAA Board of Governors is set to meet on Thursday at a time of year that is often a “key rules-making period for the NCAA,” according to The Washington Post.

It also comes only a few weeks after the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) approved a ban on trans women participating in women’s sports. Under the new policy, trans women and nonbinary students receiving masculinizing hormone therapy will be banned from participating in interscholastic competition on women’s teams. Students who are receiving hormone therapy will still be allowed to take part in workouts, practices, and other team activities, as well as men’s events.

The ban has sparked LGBTQ+ activists to push the NCAA to clarify its stance on trans inclusion and stand up for trans athletes.

“We know that the value of sport goes far beyond the playing field,” the letter states. “Sport allows people to develop a sense of self and identity and to reflect what we value as a community. Sport is a tremendous enabler of physical and mental health, teaches valuable lessons on teamwork and discipline, and has brought us lifelong community. Every single student should have access to the lifesaving power of sports.”

The athletes also pointed out the “methodologically flawed and misinterpreted” studies used to justify excluding trans athletes and said “anti-trans legislation is largely fueled by propaganda and deception.”

Two other letters also urged the NCAA Board of Governors to protect trans athletes, one from over 50 LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations and spearheaded by Athlete Ally and the other signed by over 300 academic scholars.

It is unknown whether the Board of Governors plans to discuss trans inclusion policies or not. But as LGBTQ+ activists rally for trans rights, those against trans inclusion are also trying to make their case to the board. U.S. Olympic swimming gold medalist in Nancy Hogshead-Makar – currently CEO of the anti-trans organization Champion Women – has launched an email campaign asking folks to sign on to a form letter praising the NAIA’s trans athlete ban and encouraging the NCAA to follow suit.

Earlier this month, House Republicans sent a letter to NCAA president Charlie Baker urging him to follow the NAIA and ban trans women from sports. The letter accused trans women of depriving cisgender women “of a fair opportunity to compete and achieve athletic success.”