{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.tillis.senate.gov/2024/8/tillis-colleagues-demand-ncaa-keep-biological-men-out-of-women-s-sports", "Tillis, Colleagues Demand NCAA Keep Biological Men Out of Women\u2019s Sports", "2024-08-06", "2024", "2024-08", "Republican", "Senate", "NC", "Thom Tillis", "T000476", "www.tillis.senate.gov", "tillis", "https://www.tillis.senate.gov/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Senator Thom Tillis and his colleagues recently sent a letter to National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) President Charlie Baker demanding he update the NCAA student-athlete policy to ensure only biologically female students can participate in women\u2019s sports.\n\n\u201cAmid the Biden\u2014Harris administration\u2019s unprecedented assault on Title IX, we write to urge the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to update your student-athlete participation policy to require that only biologically female students participate in women\u2019s sports. The 2024 Summer Olympics are upon us, and the NCAA has boasted about its athletes\u2019 participation. Yet the NCAA has still taken no steps to protecting a critical portion of these athletes. Several organizations\u2014including the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and the Court of Arbitration for Sport\u2014in addition to more than 20 states, have acted recently to protect women\u2019s sports. We urge the NCAA to follow suit and take similar action to promote fair play,\u201d the senators wrote.\n\n\u201cThe science is clear. Males have inherent athletic advantages over females due to their anatomy and biology\u2014including through having larger hearts, higher red blood count, greater lung capacity, longer endurance, larger muscle mass, differences in bone density and geometry, and lower body fat. Consistently, when adult males\u2019 athletic performance is contrasted with adult females\u2019 athletic performance in sports relying on endurance, muscle strength, speed, and power, males dominate, outperforming females by 10 to 30 percent\u2026 there is an understanding that male hormones give athletes a material and competitive advantage in sports. To allow biological men to compete in women\u2019s sports, while considering testosterone a performance enhancer, is intellectually dishonest. These facts cannot continue to be ignored by the NCAA,\u201dthe senators continued.\n\n\u201cIn April of this year, the NAIA Council of Presidents unanimously approved a new policy prohibiting the participation of males in women\u2019s sports. Similarly, in June of this year, the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that Lia Thomas lacked standing to challenge World Aquatic\u2019s policy barring Thomas from competing in the women\u2019s category for the Olympics. These decisions are rooted in the fundamental knowledge that\u2014while each individual should have access to sports\u2014men and women have biological differences that must be respected\u2026 The very bedrock of sport is the exhibition of a commitment to excellence, grace under pressure, and fair play among competitors\u2014all of which is threatened absent an even playing field. Women deserve that even playing field and chance to compete, one that can only be achieved by ensuring that only females compete in women\u2019s sports. We urge you to follow the lead of the NAIA and the Court of Arbitration for Sport and adopt policies that protect women\u2019s sports,\u201d the senators concluded.\n\nBackground:\n\nRiley Gaines, Concerned Women for America, Heritage Action, the Independent Council on Women\u2019s Sports, Independent Women's Forum, the Independent Women's Law Center, Champion Women, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, and the Our Bodies, Our Sports Coalition have endorsed this letter.\n\n\u201cIn conjunction with the Biden-Harris administration, the NCAA has turned their back on women by disregarding Title IX and its original intent. It's unfair, it's unsafe, and it's discriminatory. I\u2019m grateful to Senator Blackburn and every Senator who has joined this effort to fight for our rights to equal opportunity, privacy, and safety. This is the civil rights issue of our time.\u201d \u2013 Riley Gaines, 12x NCAA All-American swimmer\n\n\u201cMen and women are different. Period. Title IX was implemented because of that reality, in order to give women the same opportunities in sports as their male counterparts. But now those opportunities are being ripped away from them because of men who are identifying as female and organizations like the NCAA who are allowing them to compete against women. The NCAA says it supports its female athletes - it's time that those words were followed by actions.\u201d \u2013 Penny Nance, CEO and President of Concerned Women for America\n\n\u201cMen do not belong in women\u2019s sports. This obvious truth is based in science and backed by the vast majority of Americans. By giving men access to women\u2019s spaces and teams, the NCAA is violating its responsibility to protect student athletes from unsafe, unfair competition. The integrity of college sports hinges on the NCAA\u2019s resolve to do the right thing and put the rights of female athletes above political pandering.\u201d \u2013 Ryan Walker, Executive Vice President, Heritage Action\n\n\u201cThe infiltration of men in women\u2019s sports is an attack on the fundamental principles of fair and ethical competition. ICONS stands fully behind Senator Blackburn\u2019s letter and calls on the NCAA to follow the lead of the NAIA by taking immediate and decisive action to protect the rights of female athletes.\u201d \u2013 Marshi Smith & Kim Jones, Co-Founders, Independent Council on Women\u2019s Sports (ICONS)\n\n\u201cThe NCAA touts its Emerging Sports For Women Program and other programs meant to encourage female athletes' achievements, all while embracing policies that continue to erase them. The NCAA has rejected pleas from more than 7,000 NCAA athletes, and demands from women\u2019s rights organizations, feminist organizations, sports organizations, female Olympians and lawyers urging the NCAA to take immediate action to repeal its discriminatory policy that allows male athletes to compete in women\u2019s sports \u2014 taking trophies, roster sports, playing time, resources, and opportunities to compete from women and girls. Independent Women's Forum and Independent Women's Law Center are grateful for members of Congress who know this is unjust and are asking the NCAA to do the right thing.\u201d \u2013 Carrie Lukas, President/Independent Women's Forum and May Mailman, Director/Independent Women's Law Center\n\n\u201cI was at the NCAA meeting when Pat Griffin and Helen Carroll presented their transgender inclusion policy for adoption. We were told that one year of cross-sex hormones would remove male-advantage from men who wanted to compete with women. We were assured that the science was conclusive. Years later, we now know that the science that the NCAA relied on was wrong, and that newer research shows that no amount of hormones or surgery can roll back male athletic advantage. The NCAA should recognize the now well-established science and change their policy to protect women\u2019s sports.\u201d \u2013 Nancy Hogshead, J.D., OLY, Founder and CEO, Champion Women\n\nText of the full letter is available HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:36:13Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.tillis.senate.gov/2024/8/tillis-colleagues-demand-ncaa-keep-biological-men-out-of-women-s-sports"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7866509258747101, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}