The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has announced that it has approved a policy that clarifies opportunities for transgender student athletes to participate on college athletic teams in accordance with their gender identity, according to a press release from the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR).
The NCAA—which governs sports for more than 1,200 colleges and institutions—worked closely with the NCLR’s Sports Project and Griffin Educational Consulting to develop the policy, which “will allow a transgender student athlete to participate in sex-separated sports activities so long as the athlete’s use of hormone therapy is consistent with the NCAA policies and current medical standards.”
Under the policy:
—A transgender male student-athlete who has a medical exception for testosterone hormone therapy may compete on a men’s team, but is no longer eligible to compete on a women’s team without changing the team status to a mixed team.
—A transgender female student-athlete who has taken medication to suppress testosterone for a year may compete on a women’s team.
Also, transgender student athletes who are not undergoing hormone therapy remain eligible to play on teams based on the gender of their birth sex and may socially transition by dressing and using the appropriate pronouns that match their gender identity.