Hawley letter presses NCAA president for clarification on transgender athlete policy
Senator Josh Hawley recently sent a letter to NCAA President Charlie Baker asking him to define what the specific policy is for male athletes competing in women’s sports.
This comes shortly after Baker told a Senate panel that he was unsure of what the current policy is.
On Oct. 18, Missouri Senator Josh Hawley sent a letter to NCAA President and former Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker asking what the specific NCAA policy is on transgender-identifying athletes’ locker room usage.
“As of today—October 18, 2023—what exactly is the NCAA’s policy on transgender athletes’ access to locker rooms? Please provide a comprehensive explanation,” the letter reads. The document also goes on to ask if female athletes will be provided with an apology from the NCAA for being required to share locker rooms with men.
“Will the NCAA provide an apology to female student athletes who were required to share locker rooms and other intimate spaces with biological men?,” Hawley writes.
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The letter follows a recent Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in which Hawley—referencing conservative speaker and former All-American swimmer Riley Gaines—asked Baker if forcing women to share locker rooms with men was still NCAA policy.
“When I asked you whether the forced inclusion of biological men in women’s locker rooms remains NCAA policy, you equivocated,” Senator Hawley writes. “You testified that you ‘[didn’t] believe that policy would be the policy that we would use today.’ But you declined to state what the NCAA’s policy actually is.”
Hawley’s letter goes on to criticize the NCAA for exploiting student athletes for financial gain while simultaneously ignoring their needs, concerns, and safety.
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In addition to asking what the exact policy is that President Baker failed to clarify, Senator Hawley’s letter also asks if locker rooms were ever made, officially or unofficially, unisex.
“Has the NCAA or any of its designees or officials ever promulgated a policy, whether through official or unofficial channels, of making locker rooms unisex?,” it reads.
Hawley also took to X, formerly Twitter, to state his thoughts on the matter.
“It’s pathetic that it takes being put under oath for NCAA officials to admit forcing female athletes to have men in their locker rooms - and then change in front of them - was wrong,” he posted on Oct. 18.
Campus Reform reached out to Senator Hawley, President Baker, Riley Gaines, and Lia Thomas for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
