Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Sunday announced he has sued the National Collegiate Athletic Association over the participation of transgender athletes in women’s sports.
The lawsuit was filed in district court in Lubbock, Texas.
The lawsuit, according to a news release from Paxton’s office, accuses the NCAA of “engaging in false, deceptive, and misleading practices by marketing sporting events as ‘women’s’ competitions only,” in violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
Paxton said consumers are then “provided with mixed sex competitions where biological males compete against biological females.” He also accuses the NCAA of misleading consumers by failing to disclose which athletes are transgender.
Paxton is seeking a permanent injunction prohibiting the NCAA from “allowing biological males to compete in women’s sporting events in Texas or involving Texas teams.” Alternatively, Paxton said, the injunction could require the NCAA to stop marketing the events as “women’s” competitions.
“The NCAA is intentionally and knowingly jeopardizing the safety and wellbeing of women by deceptively changing women’s competitions into co-ed competitions,” Paxton wrote. “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. Radical ‘gender theory’ has no place in college sports.”
The Texas lawsuit is the latest attempt by conservative politicians to target transgender athletes and push the NCAA into banning them from competition. President-elect Donald Trump has said he wants to stop trans athletes from competing.
In his statement, Paxton appeared to reference the recent controversy involving San Jose State women’s volleyball, where several opponents forfeited matches this season on grounds the Spartans had a transgender player.
A federal court last month refused to block the school from playing in the Mountain West Conference championship.
The NCAA does not track data on transgender athletes among the 544,000 currently competing on 19,000 teams at various levels across the country. NCAA President Charlie Baker testified in Congress earlier this month that he was aware of fewer than 10 active NCAA athletes who identified as transgender.
“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 NCAA said in a statement Monday.
Brooke Slusser, the San Jose State volleyball co-captain who was among the group of players who sued the Mountain West Conference over her teammate’s participation, praised the Texas lawsuit on social media.
“Hey NCAA, just in case you haven’t realized yet this fight will just keep getting harder for you until you make a change!,” Slusser posted on X.
The NCAA established a policy in 2010 that requires trans athletes who were assigned male at birth to complete at least one year of testosterone suppression therapy before being eligible to compete on a women’s team.
Trans athletes who were assigned female at birth and transitioned to male can compete on a men’s team, but if they have received testosterone treatment are ineligible to compete on a women’s team.
The athletes are required to meet their chosen sport’s standard for documented testosterone levels at various points during a season.
In 2022, the NCAA revised the policy in what the organization called an attempt to be aligned with national sports governing bodies. If a governing body does not have a trans athlete policy, then it scales up to the international federation that oversees the sport. If there is no international federation policy, previously established Olympic policy criteria would be followed.