Norman representatives criticized a letter Gov. Kevin Stitt and eight other Republican governors signed Monday advocating for a change to the NCAA’s transgender student-athlete participation policy that would make the organization in charge of a concrete participation policy across all sports.
The governors said the NCAA allows each sport’s national governing body to determine participation policies for trans student athletes.
“This policy allows the NCAA to avoid responsibility for ensuring the fairness of collegiate sports — therefore it must be changed,” the letter read.
Rep. Jacob Rosecrants (D-Norman) wrote in a statement to OU Daily the letter is a “non-issue” to him because he doesn’t think the NCAA will change anything regarding their participation policy for transgender student athletes.
Rep. Jared Deck (D-Norman), wrote that Stitt’s letter is a “meaningless gesture” and is an example of politicians bullying trans youth to score political points.
“Governor Stitt says he’s concerned about equity for women, yet Oklahoma is currently ranked the worst state for women in the union,” Deck wrote.
According to WalletHub findings, Oklahoma is the worst state for women when comparing 25 key indicators of living standards across all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Sen. Mary Boren (D-Norman) wrote in a statement that letting each sport’s governing body determine the participation policy for trans athletes is the fairest solution for all athletes.
“It makes the most sense for government to remain limited while the private sector does their best to resolve these issues, instead of exploiting them for political purposes,” Boren wrote.
Oklahoma banned trans women from competing on women’s sports teams in 2022 under Senate Bill 2, or the “Save Women’s Sports Act”. The governors wrote there is a documented athletic performance gap between sexes.
In an article from the National Library of Medicine, results suggest biological women will not run, swim or jump as fast as biological men with an average gender gap of 11.7% since 1982.
“Policies that allow men and women to compete against one another validate an average male athlete stealing the recognition from a truly remarkable female athlete,” the governors wrote.
Deck wrote listening to women and trans youth is how to fight for families, not making “political hay” of them.
“Regardless of the Governor’s attempt to pressure a private entity that operates in all fifty states, I’m certain the university in Norman will live on,” Deck wrote.
OU Daily reached out to the university for a statement but has not received a response by the time of publication.
This story was edited by Alexia Aston, Peggy Dodd and Taylor Jones. Zoe De Leon copy edited this story.
