Protesters who want to save women's sports are planning a rally outside the NCAA's annual convention and are calling for an end to the participation of transgender athletes in women's competitions.
The rally will include former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines and former UPenn swimmer Paula Scanlan — a teammate of trans athlete Lia Thomas — as well as many parents, students and activists from both conservative and “liberal feminist” organizations.
Speaking exclusively to , Scanlan said she and her allies are fighting for dignity in their chosen sports.
“As a sexual assault survivor, I had to undress in front of a man every day before going into the pool at Penn,” she said. “The NCAA has encouraged this repeated trauma by failing to recognize women's sports.” “We implore the NCAA to give women back our dignity.”
The issue has divided the United States in recent years. Critics say transgender athletes have an advantage over cisgender women in competition, and at least 23 states have passed laws to make room in sports only for a person's sex assigned at birth.
However, the Independent Women's Forum is among the groups claiming that the NCAA is doing nothing to protect women under new president and former Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker.
Groups hoping to “save women's sports” are planning a rally outside the NCAA's annual convention this week to demand an end to what they call discriminatory practices that allow transgender people to compete with cisgender women
UPenn swimmer Paula Scanlan (pictured) said she and her allies were fighting for dignity in their chosen sports. “As a sexual assault survivor, I had to undress in front of a man every day before going into the pool at Penn,” she said. “The NCAA has encouraged this repeated trauma by failing to recognize women's sports.” We implore the NCAA to give women back our dignity.
Lia Thomas sparked a wave of controversy after joining UPenn's women's team in 2021
The Independent Women's Forum will march in the second annual “Our Body, Our Sport” rally at the NCAA Convention in Phoenix on Thursday.
Over a dozen groups representing women's interests will join the Independent Women's Forum in Phoenix, including Independent Council on Women's Sports (ICONS), Women's Liberation Front, Women's Declaration International-USA, Women's Sports Policy Working Group, Champion Women and Concerned Women for America.
Scanlan, who started swimming at the age of eight, is committed to raising awareness of trans women competing in women's divisions.
She swam at the University of Pennsylvania with Thomas, whose participation in women's competitions sparked fierce debate about whether athletes compete as a gender other than that in which they were born.
Scanlan even admitted to having nightmares for weeks after being forced to share a dressing room.
The rally's theme is “We will not give in” and organizers told that it will reflect “the determination of female athletes and coaches” to force the NCAA to act.
They hope to send a letter of demand to Baker that includes repealing the NCAA's transgender student-athlete participation policy, which allows transgender athletes to compete at will based on their testosterone levels.
Thomas set seven UPenn women's team records (five individual) and won three individual events at the Ivy League Championships in February 2022
Also taking part in the rally will be former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines, perhaps the most prominent activist for women's spaces in sports
The rally will have the slogan “We will not give in” and, organizers told , will reflect “the determination of female athletes and coaches” to force the NCAA to act
Gaines, perhaps the most prominent activist for women's spaces in sports who has spoken across the country and in Congress, says the rally is about the dignity of student-athletes.
“Female athletes work their entire lives to compete in sports, only to find the NCAA destroying our equal opportunity. “It devalues athletes and women in general,” she said.
“Gender-specific categories are just as important for competitive sports as age divisions and weight classes. We ask very little of the NCAA. Ensure the fairness necessary for competition and safety.”
A spokeswoman for the forum said the NCAA issued challenges ahead of its rally this year and sought approval to close the road in front of and around the convention center.
They said they saw a sign of their power last year when the NCAA had to send out a memo saying everyone was “safe” before their rally.
However, organizers said they will surround the site with LED trucks, people with running banners, double-sided rally signs, T-shirts and hats to stop discrimination by the NCAA.
They have turned their ire on Baker, the former Republican governor of Massachusetts who took over the NCAA last March and who the IWF says refuses to listen to them.
“We had so many student-athletes write letters to Charlie Baker, who testified before the Senate in October that he had spoken to thousands of student-athletes. “Well, he hasn't taken the time to speak to any of the athletes like Riley and Paula who are speaking out against the NCAA's policy,” Victoria Coley, vice president of communications, told .
Protesters have directed their anger at Charlie Baker, the former Republican governor of Massachusetts who took over the NCAA last March and who the IWF says refuses to listen to them
A spokeswoman for the forum said the NCAA issued challenges ahead of its rally this year and sought approval to close the road in front of and around the convention center
The IWF announced that they will surround the Phoenix Convention Center with LED trucks, people with running banners, double-sided rally signs, shirts and hats to stop discrimination by the NCAA
has reached out to the NCAA for comment.
The forum says they have made great strides in the year since their last rally, including the outrage sparked by swimmers at Roanoke College in Virginia, where athletes held a news conference after being forced to swim with a transgender woman.
“The progress is that we are increasing in numbers, and Charlie Baker sees the writing on the wall,” Coley said, adding that she believes Baker’s predecessor, Mark Emmert, agrees with her cause.
“Someone is going to stand up for women and the integrity of women’s sports.” If women have to continue to call out the blatant discrimination, someone will stand with women and bring about change. Charlie Baker has a real chance to be a hero. “Our coalition wants to help and we have requested a private meeting,” Coley added.
“There are people on the NCAA board who are on our side, it’s just a matter of them being strong enough.”
The NCAA has allowed transgender athletes to compete since 2010.
Under current NCAA rules, an individual must complete 12 months of testosterone suppression treatment and submit serum testosterone test results that show levels below the maximum allowed for the sport.
“Disgraceful to Charlie Baker for continuing to enforce these discriminatory policies,” said Jennifer C. Braceras, vice president of legal policy at Independent Women's Form and founder of the Independent Women's Law Center.
The group says it has made great progress in the year since its last rally
The group says it has made great progress in the year since its last rally, including the outrage sparked by swimmers at Roanoke College in Virginia, where athletes Kate Pearson (left), Lily Mullens (center) and Bailey Gallagher (right). ) held a press conference after being forced to swim with a transgender woman
“The NCAA may not be bound by Title IX, but the schools that compose it are, and the NCAA is obligated to help its member schools comply with equity requirements, not undermine them.”
The rules in all sports are inconsistent and incomplete.
The International Olympic Committee said in November 2021 that it would be up to individual sports to set their own rules, abandoning the previous requirement that trans women suppress their testosterone levels for at least 12 months to compete.
However, in March this year, the athletics governing body World Athletics (WA) announced that it would ban athletes who have gone through so-called “male puberty” from taking part in women's world ranking competitions.
WA said the exclusion applied to “male-to-female transgender athletes who have gone through male puberty”.
“This list of speakers is incredible, the momentum we've seen in this movement to save women's sports and say women's sports are for women, and in the last year a number of women have spoken out,” Coley said.
“Courageous athletes, coaches and parents are speaking out and joining in.” “We will not back down until the NCAA stops discriminating.”