More than 500 college athletes sent a letter to the National Collegiate Athletic Association on Wednesday demanding immediate action against states with bans on transgender athletes.
The letter, which was spearheaded by two runners from Washington University in St. Louis, Aliya Schenck and Alana Bojar, was addressed to the organization’s president, Mark Emmert, and the NCAA Board of Governors.
A total of 545 athletes from at least 85 schools from every region of the country are urging the institution to speak out for transgender athletes, stand by its nondiscrimination policy “and publicly refuse to host championships in states with bans against trans athletes.”
“We, the undersigned NCAA student-athletes, are extremely frustrated and disappointed by the lack of action taken by the NCAA to recognize the dangers of hosting events in states that create a hostile environment for student-athletes,” the athletes wrote.
“You have been silent in the face of hateful legislation in states that are slated to host championships, even though those states are close to passing anti-transgender legislation,” they added.
Bills targeting transgender athletes are currently being discussed by state politicians across the country as the latest iteration of the political fight against LGBTQ equality.
On Monday, South Dakota’s House Bill 1217, which bans transgender girls and women from participating in sports teams that correspond to their gender identity, passed by the state Senate, weeks after passing through the House, and it’s now headed to Gov. Kristi Noem’s desk.
“I’m excited to sign this bill very soon,” Noem tweeted after the vote.
Last week, the Republican governor of Mississippi, Tate Reeves, announced that he’d sign Senate Bill 2536 into law, after the legislation passed through both legislative chambers.
In the letter, written in collaboration with the LGBTQ advocacy organizations GLAAD and Athlete Ally, students refer to Idaho’s House Bill 500, which bans transgender athletes from women’s sports, and was signed into law by governor Brad Little last year, but currently faces a legal review in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
“Even with the current injunction, [HB 500] still is an incredibly harmful bill that sets a dangerous precedent of subjecting all women athletes to potential invasive gender verification tests while also effectively banning transgender women athletes from competition,” the letter said.
“The harm these bills will cause will be felt by generations of athletes to come. Trans youth will not be able to play and excel at the sports they love, causing a ripple effect that will eventually remove an integral element of the diversity of college sport. Failure to speak up now will harm current and future athletes — perhaps irreparably,” they wrote.
Earlier this month, The Associated Press published a report in which two dozen state lawmakers who had sponsored similar bills were asked whether the participation of trans girls in sports teams in accordance to their true gender had ever been problematic.
The AP reached out to legislators in more than 20 states, but “in almost every case, sponsors cannot cite a single instance in their own state or region where such participation has caused problems.”
“All athletes deserve to compete. All athletes are worthy of protection. No athlete should feel unsafe being who they are,” the students wrote. “Please show us that your practices align with your priorities.”
