Georgia Board of Regents seeks new rule to protect women’s sports 

The University System of Georgia’s governing body is urging two collegiate athletic organizations to pursue a ban on male student athletes in women’s sports. 

The Board of Regents, which oversees the public colleges and universities within the University System of Georgia, unanimously adopted a resolution last week urging the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) to join the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) in restricting transgender participation in female sports. 

The resolution states that “participation in athletic competitions is a vital part of the overall collegiate educational experience” and “biologically female student-athletes could be put at a competitive disadvantage when student-athletes who are biologically male or who have undergone masculinizing hormone therapy compete in female athletic competitions.” 

The Board of Regents’ move has garnered widespread praise from advocates of fairness in women’s sports. Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones commended the move in a social media post, writing, “I want to thank the Board of Regents for taking action on an issue I have stressed as a priority and the Senate has led on in Georgia – protecting women’s sports.” 

“The work female athletes put into competing should be protected at all costs, no matter the age. This action brings us one step closer toward achieving that ultimate goal,” Jones continued. 

The question of allowing male athletes who identify as women to compete against females gained prominence in the 2022 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, in which male athlete Lia Thomas was allowed to compete against females and ultimately won the 500-meter freestyle event. The University of Pennsylvania later nominated Thomas for the NCAA’s 2022 Woman of the Year award. 

Earlier this year, Riley Gaines, a female athlete who tied Thomas in the 200-yard freestyle race in 2022, shared her experience with journalist Megyn Kelly.

“The first time that we became aware we would be undressing next to this six-foot, four-inch, 22-year-old fully intact man was when we were inches away from said man fully exposing himself,” Gaines said. “It felt like a betrayal.” 

“We are going back by asking women to smile, to step aside, to allow these men onto our podiums, telling us that we’re the problem if we don’t want to or feel totally comfortable undressing next to a fully naked, fully intact man,” Gaines concluded. “That’s not progress.”