Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), alleging that permitting men in women’s sports is a “false, deceptive, and misleading” advertising practice.
The NCAA, which is the largest collegiate sports association, allows biological men who identify as transgender women to participate in women-only sports competitions if they bring down their testosterone levels through testosterone suppressants.
Under the NCAA rules, each specific sport has a maximum testosterone level for a biological male to be eligible to compete in the women’s competition. Athletes are required to provide documentation several times per year to show their testosterone levels.
The lawsuit alleges that the NCAA is “advertising and selling goods and services” as women’s sporting events but are in reality providing “mixed-sex sporting events where men can compete against women.” It alleges that this practice is “designed to confuse consumers” and constitutes a deceptive trade practice in violation of state law.
In a statement, Paxton accused the NCAA of “intentionally and knowingly jeopardizing the safety and well-being of women by deceptively changing women’s competitions into co-ed competitions.”
“When people watch a women’s volleyball game, for example, they expect to see women playing against other women — not biological males pretending to be something they are not,” Paxton said.
When reached for comment by CNA, a spokesperson for the NCAA declined to comment on the specific litigation but provided a statement that asserted its policies promote Title IX — a federal law that bans sex discrimination in K–12 schools, colleges, and other educational institutions.
“College sports are the premier stage for women’s sports in America, and while the NCAA does not comment on pending litigation, the association and its members will continue to promote Title IX, make unprecedented investments in women’s sports, and ensure fair competition in all NCAA championships,” the statement read.
Paxton’s lawsuit, however, asserts that “most consumers know that a ‘woman’ means an adult human female,” adding that “most importantly, it is how Texas consumers understand the word.”
The lawsuit states that consumers who purchase goods and services related to women’s sports “enjoy watching women compete against women” rather than “men competing against women” and that they “make these purchases to support female empowerment and fair competition among women.”
“The impact of women’s sports on the self-esteem, academic achievement, future employment, and development of women and girls is profound and enduring,” the lawsuit continues. “Men competing in women’s sports is inherently unfair and unsafe due to their physiological advantages.”
Paxton’s lawsuit further alleges that consumers do not support women’s sports “to watch men steal medals and records from female participants.” It adds: “When consumers have purchased goods and services associated with women’s sporting events only to discover a man competing, they have invariably reacted with revulsion and outrage.”
“The NCAA fails to disclose that some of its women’s sporting events are mixed-sex events with the intent to induce consumers seeking to support women’s sports to purchase the associated goods and services,” the lawsuit continues. “Many consumers would not purchase goods and services associated with NCAA women’s sporting events if they knew that biological males were participating.”
The lawsuit, filed in the district court of Lubbock, requests that the court prohibit the NCAA from permitting biological men in women’s sports for all sporting events that take place in Texas or involve Texas teams or to require the NCAA to stop marketing events with the word “women” if biological men are permitted to participate.
About half of the states in the country restrict high school and college girls’ and women’s athletic competitions to only biological girls and women, but many states permit biological males to compete in girls’ and women’s athletics if they self-identify as transgender girls or women.
U.S. President Joe Biden’s Department of Education (DOE) issued regulations in April that redefined Title IX’s prohibition of sex discrimination to include a ban on discriminating against someone’s self-asserted gender identity. The administration considered altering the rule further to explicitly require schools and colleges to allow biological males in girls’ and women’s athletic competitions — if they identify as transgender girls or women — but abandoned that effort.
Several state attorneys general sued the DOE over its April reinterpretation, asserting that the interpretation is inconsistent with the federal law that was adopted in 1972. Judges have blocked the enforcement of the DOE rules in 26 states. Some legal scholars have warned that the rules could have overruled state laws that restrict female sports, locker rooms, bathrooms, and dormitories to only biological girls and women.
