NASHVILLE, Tenn. – About two dozen protesters gathered at the NCAA convention on Wednesday to demand that the NCAA ban transgender athletes from competing in women's sports.
Wearing badges that read “Equality is not a game,” protesters stood on the side of one of the walking paths inside the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center. Some wore T-shirts that said, “Women's sports are for women” and “Bring back Title IX.” The protest was organized by the Independent Women's Forum and the Our Bodies, Our Sports coalition.
“This is simply about fairness, about returning the integrity of women's sports and ensuring that the NCAA does the right thing,” Independent Women's Forum vice president Victoria Coley told ESPN.
Sia Liilii, former co-captain of the Nevada volleyball team, wore a “XX ≠ XY” camouflage cap. Nevada was one of four Mountain West volleyball teams that lost to San Jose State last season because the Spartans reportedly had a transgender player on their roster.
“I am here today to stand in front of the NCAA and demand that they eliminate discriminatory policies toward women,” Liilii said.
The NCAA first adopted a policy governing the participation of transgender athletes in 2010. It created a path to participation for transgender women and men in the category that matched their gender identities. For transgender women, the policy required one year of testosterone suppression. In January 2022, the NCAA changed its policy to a sport-by-sport approach, mirroring actions taken by the United States Olympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee.
The policy change came at a time when the NCAA was facing pressure from transgender exclusion advocates because University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas, a transgender woman, was competing in the women's category.
Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines is the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit filed in March 2024, arguing that its transgender athlete policy violates Title IX. That lawsuit has been joined by 18 additional athletes, including former San Jose State volleyball co-captain Brooke Slusser.
NCAA President Charlie Baker has said there are fewer than 10 transgender athletes out of the approximately 510,000 who compete in the NCAA.
“We have a situation where there is no clarity on this from a legal standpoint,” Baker told reporters Tuesday. “There are federal judges who decide individual cases. There are 26, 27 states with a set of rules [and] a bunch of other states with a completely different set of rules. “I think we would like to have some clarity on this so that everyone has a general understanding of what the rules of the game are.”
Twenty-five states have passed laws banning transgender athletes from participating in women's and girls' sports, and two more states have restrictive policies through their high school association or a state agency.
There is no current federal law that specifically pertains to transgender athletes, but that could change. On Tuesday, the House of Representatives passed HR 28, the Protecting Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2025, which would amend Title IX to define sex for the purposes of athletics as determined “solely based on reproductive biology.” and the genetics of a person at birth.”
The bill states that it would be a violation of Title IX for any recipient of federal financial assistance to allow a person assigned male at birth to “participate in an athletic program or activity designated for women or girls.” This would not apply to male practice players, who are commonly used in women's sports.
The bill then goes to the Senate for consideration.
ESPN's Daniel Murphy contributed to this report.
