AUSTIN - Attorney General Ken Paxton issued an opinion today on whether NCAA’s policies on transgender student-athletes violate Title IX or any other state or federal laws.
State. Sen. Charles Perry, District 28, submitted the question back in June, records show.
“The NCAA’s policies on transgender student-athletes appear to violate Title IX by imposing different rules on biological men and biological women,” the opinion request states. “Furthermore, any universities that comply with these NCAA policies appear to be forfeiting their right to the continued receipt of federal funds.”
As an example, Perry writes that the NCAA allows biological men to compete on women’s sports teams, but only on the condition that they submit to one year of testosterone-suppression treatment.
“Biological women, on the other hand, may participate in women’s sports without being subject to any such condition,” the request states. “This seems to constitute sex discrimination.”
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any education program or activity receiving federal funding.
Paxton concluded that a court would have a basis to conclude that a transgender athlete policy like that adopted by the NCAA discriminates on the basis of sex in violation of Title IX.
“Membership in the NCAA is voluntary, but the NCAA may penalize member schools that do not comply with its constitution, bylaws, and rules,” the opinion states. “How a court would determine whether a violation of Title IX occurred if the NCAA imposed penalties against a university must be analyzed on a case-by-case basis after fact finding, which is beyond the scope of an Attorney General opinion.”
Opinion No. KP-0396