WDI USA Statement Opposing the NCAA’s February 2025 “Participation Policy for Transgender Student-Athletes”

Introduction

On February 6, the NCAA announced a new “Participation Policy for Transgender Student-Athletes,” effective immediately on that date. The new policy is out of alignment with Title IX, the global Declaration on Women’s Sex-Based Rights (the Declaration), and both the Executive Order Keeping Men out of Women’s Sports and Executive Order 14168, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.” 

Accordingly, WDI USA cannot support the new NCAA policy.

Title IX, enacted in 1972, states straightforwardly that “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” The statute, and its 1975 implementing regulations, allow for single-sex spaces and sports under certain circumstances. In December of 2022, a majority of the full court of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled definitively that the meaning of the word sex is unambiguous under Title IX—it means the distinction between male and female.

Under President Biden, the Department of Education attempted to redefine sex to include the nebulous, sexist, and homophobic concept of “gender identity” in the Title IX regulations; that redefinition was vacated in its entirety in January 2025. 

The Declaration on Women’s Sex-Based Rights reaffirms women’s sex-based rights, including women’s rights to physical and reproductive integrity, and the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women and girls that result from the replacement of the category of sex with that of “gender identity.” 

Article 7 of the Declaration reaffirms women’s rights to the same opportunities as men to participate actively in sports and physical education. This includes the provision of opportunities for girls and women to participate in sports and physical education on a single-sex basis. It asserts that “to ensure fairness and safety for women and girls, the entry of boys and men who claim to have female ‘gender identities’ into teams, competitions, facilities, or changing rooms … set aside for women and girls should be prohibited as a form of sex discrimination.”

Article 8 of the Declaration reaffirms the need for the elimination of violence against women. This must include the provision of single-sex spaces, including any enclosed space where individuals reside or may be in a state of undress, including locker rooms. Single-sex spaces, including locker rooms, should be at least equal in availability and quality to those provided to men and boys. Such facilities should not include men who claim to have female “gender identities.” 

Nothing in the new NCAA policy is consistent with this affirmation of women’s sex-based rights.

Title

The title alone (“Participation Policy for Transgender Student-Athletes”) is concerning because there is no such thing as a “transgender student-athlete.” All student athletes are either female or male, regardless of whether any athlete claims to have a “gender identity.” The NCAA needs to instate a policy with a title that is grounded in material reality.

Application

The stated application of the policy is as follows:

The policy outlined below applies to all practice and competition in NCAA sports in which the NCAA conducts championships separated by gender. This includes all NCAA competition (regular season, conference championships, post-season, scrimmages and exhibitions).

As with all other NCAA eligibility criteria, member schools remain responsible for certifying student-athlete eligibility for practice and competition. The application of this policy may not be waived.

Additionally, schools are subject to local, state and federal legislation and such legislation supersedes the rules of the NCAA.

There is no such thing as separating championships by gender. Championships are separated by sex. Gender is a prison of sex stereotypes and WDI USA is a gender-abolitionist organization. 

Leaving individual schools to determine eligibility in athletic competitions is irresponsible and unfair to female athletes. The NCAA needs a clear policy mandating that all athletic events and competitions over which the NCAA exerts authority be single-sex. There are two exceptions to this general principle: (1) it is acceptable for schools to host mixed-sex teams (where all athletes knowingly consent to compete with and against members of the opposite sex and so long as female athletes have access to female-only locker rooms); and (2) it is acceptable for schools to hold training events in which male athletes are expressly invited to train against female athletes; with respect to those events, reporting to the Department of Education must be accurate as to the sex of team members and female athletes must have access to female-only locker rooms.

Definitions

The definitions outlined in the new NCAA policy are as follows: 

1. NCAA Men’s Team: A varsity intercollegiate sports team that meets the qualifications to be considered for NCAA men’s championships.
2. NCAA Women’s Team: A varsity intercollegiate sports team that meets the qualifications to be considered for NCAA women’s championships.
3. Mixed Team: A varsity intercollegiate team on which at least one individual of each sex assigned at birth competes. Per NCAA legislation, mixed teams are only eligible for NCAA men’s championships.
4. Sex Assigned at Birth: The male or female designation doctors assign to infants at birth, which is marked on their birth records.
5. Gender Identity: An individual’s own internal sense of their gender (e.g., man, woman, nonbinary).
6. Transgender: An individual whose gender identity or gender expression is different from their sex assigned at birth.

WDI USA takes exception to these definitions, as follows: 

3. As explained below, sex is not assigned at birth. 

4. “Male” and “female” are not designations “assigned at birth” by doctors. They are statements of fact. Sex is real and immutable; doctors do not have the power to simply “assign” a sex to a person. 

5. The words “man” and “woman” are not identities. They describe the fact of a person being either an adult human male or an adult human female. The very concept that “woman” is an identity is insulting to actual women. Moreover, “gender” is not a possession. No one “has” a “gender.” Gender is an oppressive caste system of sex stereotypes. “Gender identity” is simply the most contemporary expression of this caste system. It does not matter, for purposes of sport, whether someone claims to have an “internal sense” of being a member of the class of humans who are male, the class of humans who are female, or a mysterious third sex class that does not exist.

6. No one is “transgender.” Virtually all human beings defy the stereotypes that society imposes on the sex classes male and female to some degree. Still, all human beings are either female or male.

Policy

The new NCAA policy is as follows:

1. NCAA Men’s Team. Regardless of sex assigned at birth or gender identity, a student-athlete may participate (practice and compete) with a men’s team, assuming they meet all other NCAA eligibility requirements.
   • Medical Exception Process. Please note, student-athletes taking a banned substance (e.g., testosterone) must complete the medical exception process.
2. NCAA Women’s Team.
   1. Student-athlete assigned male at birth.
      1. Competition. A student-athlete assigned male at birth may not compete on a women’s team.
      2. Practice. A student-athlete assigned male at birth may practice on the team consistent with their gender identity and receive all other benefits applicable to student-athletes who are otherwise eligible for practice.
   2. Student-athlete assigned female at birth.
      1. Competition. A student-athlete assigned female at birth who has begun hormone therapy (e.g., testosterone) may not compete on a women’s team. If such competition occurs, the team is subject to NCAA mixed-team legislation, and the team will no longer be eligible for NCAA women’s championships.
      2. Practice. A student-athlete assigned female at birth who has begun hormone therapy (e.g., testosterone) may continue practicing with a women’s team and receive all other benefits applicable to student-athletes who are otherwise eligible for practice.

WDI USA cannot support any of this. 

The only aspect of this policy that WDI USA could conceivably support is: “A student-athlete assigned male at birth may not compete on a women’s team.” However, WDI USA cannot support this because no student-athlete is “assigned male at birth.” All men are male. Moreover, the policy would likely allow a male athlete who was thought to be female at birth to compete in women’s sports. The phenomenon of male athletes who were thought to be female at birth being permitted to participate in women’s sports is not hypothetical. During the 2024 Olympics, a male athlete named Imane Khelif was permitted to beat up women in a boxing ring because the International Olympic Committee permitted him to compete in women’s boxing. The IOC is now facing criminal complaints for its abuse of women. 

WDI USA supports the concept of allowing female athletes to practice and compete on a men’s team, provided that all athletes in question consent to practice and compete with and against a member or members of the opposite sex, and provided that female athletes have access to a female-only locker room.

WDI USA does not support the practice of female athletes (or any woman) taking exogenous testosterone for the purpose of “affirming” a “gender identity.”

This is extremely problematic: “A student-athlete assigned male at birth may practice on the team consistent with their gender identity and receive all other benefits applicable to student-athletes who are otherwise eligible for practice.” WDI USA understands that it is customary for female athletes to train with men because doing so can be beneficial to female athletes. However, no male athlete who is invited to train with women should ever be given any benefit that should be available exclusively to female athletes, including access to a female-only locker room. In addition, if male athletes are invited to train with female athletes, schools must report the sex of team members accurately when reporting Title IX data to the Department of Education. 

If a female athlete on a women’s team is taking testosterone, that does not render the team mixed-sex. A female athlete on testosterone is not male. She is still female; she is simply using drugs in a manner that gives her an unfair advantage against other female athletes. As explained, WDI USA does not support the practice of female athletes (or any woman) ingesting exogenous testosterone for the purpose of “affirming” a “gender identity.”

Conclusion

It is being reported that the NCAA’s new policy is in alignment with Executive Order 14168, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.” This is not true. 

WDI USA is a nonpartisan organization that does not support any political party or candidate. However, the Declaration is grounded in a radical feminist analysis and the majority of its supporters consider themselves to be liberal, very liberal, or progressive. There is much to question about the activities of the new presidential administration. However, WDI USA generally supports the Executive Order because of its use of accurate language and its clear disavowal of “gender identity.”¹ The new NCAA policy is not even close to being in alignment with it.

WDI USA strongly opposes the new NCAA policy, and urges the NCAA to formulate a new policy that is in alignment with Title IX, the Declaration on Women’s Sex-Based Rights, the Executive Order on Keeping Men out of Women’s Sports, and Executive Order 14168, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.”

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1. There are legitimate questions as to whether its definitions of “female” and “male” establish a “fetal personhood” rule, which WDI USA would oppose. WDI USA’s staunch support of abortion rights has been made clear in its 2022 statement concerning Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, where we stated, “The U.S. chapter of Women’s Declaration International (WDI USA) stands categorically and unapologetically in support of women’s and girls’ right to terminate a pregnancy at will, on demand, and without apology.” ↩︎

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