NCAA Championships To Be Held In States With Transgender Sports Bans

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) on Sunday announced a series of softball championship events, several of which will take place in states with recently approved transgender sports bans.

According to the AP, host schools will include the University of Alabama, the University of Arkansas, and the University of Tennessee.

Republican governors in all three states have signed bills that prohibit the participation of transgender women and girls in sports consistent with their gender identity.

The announcement comes after the NCAA declared its opposition to such laws and warned it would only hold championships in states where they can guarantee their athletes will be “safe, healthy, and free from discrimination.”

States with similar bans include Mississippi, West Virginia, Montana, South Dakota, and Idaho. Florida is widely expected to follow suit.

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation's largest LGBT rights advocate, said that the NCAA is “violating their own policy.”

“The NCAA should be ashamed of themselves for violating their own policy by choosing to hold championships in states that are not healthy, safe, or free from discrimination for their athletes,” said HRC President Alphonso David. “It also undermines their commitment to transgender participation in NCAA events, for which they have had an inclusive policy for years. While we have remained hopeful about the NCAA stepping up to the plate and taking action like they have done in the past, they are willfully ignoring that commitment this time, despite repeated attempts by the Human Rights Campaign and others to communicate the harsh and harmful negative impacts of this legislation, which is not just pending but enacted into law in seven states, with South Dakota also creating two Executive Orders to similar discriminatory affect. Their words will not stop discrimination, only actions to deliver real consequences to states that dare to discriminate. The NCAA must face scrutiny and public pressure to do the right thing.”

In response to passage of North Carolina's House Bill 2, which restricted bathroom use by transgender people, in 2016, the NCAA removed basketball tournament games from the state. Pressure from the NCAA and other corporations pushed lawmakers to eventually repeal HB2.

In a joint statement, Athlete Ally and GLAAD called on the NCAA to reverse its decision.

“We call on the NCAA to reverse this decision and support the right of all student-athletes – including transgender student-athletes – to be safe, healthy and free of discrimination while participating in NCAA events,” the groups said.