LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders joined eight other Republican governors to voice their opposition regarding NCAA guidelines regarding transgender athletes.
The policy first went into effect in 2022 to align with the International Olympic Committee's policy. It allows athletes to join a sports team that aligns with the specific sport's policy on transgender competitors.
If a sport does not have a national governing body, a determination on a transgender student's participation reverts to that sport's international policy.
Under the policy, in order for a transgender person to compete they have to submit documentation that meets established criteria as well as meet the sport standard for testosterone levels and any other specific sport policies.
The governors sent a letter to the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspect of Sports. Its purpose is to promote "healthy and safe environment for student-athletes through research, education, collaboration and policy development."
In the letter, the governors said the policy allows the NCAA to "avoid responsibility for ensuring fairness" in college sports and that it "must be changed."
The governors cite the event of Riley Gaines and Lia Thomas, a transgender woman, both finishing fifth in a 2022 women's swimming competition. She has alleged that Thomas was allowed to stand in the fifth place podium position with the trophy while Gaines was told to stand in the sixth place spot.
The two were competing in the 200-yard NCAA freestyle championship, but Thomas would win the 500-yard freestyle at the same event. Gaines did not compete in the 500-yard freestyle finals.
Sanders and the other governors claimed she couldn't "stand for photos with the first-place trophy that she rightfully earned," but both Gaines and Thomas finished fifth.
"Riley's lifetime of achievement was ripped away from her by someone who shouldn't have even been in the race — all for a photo op," the governors claimed.
The governors argue in the letter that the NCAA has the ability to "guarantee a fair environment for women's sports."
"If you take this opportunity, it will expand the possibilities for so many young women for years to come," the letter stated. "But if you continue the NCAA's misguided policies, stories like Riley Gaines' will only become more common."
In 2021, former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson signed into law that blocks transgender athletes from playing in girls' or women's sports teams.
Sanders was joined by South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, and Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon.