Transgender athletes are barred from women's sports at these Tennessee schools

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics adopted a policy this week banning transgender athletes from participating in women's sports at its more than 200 colleges across the United States

The NAIA approved the policy Monday with the change that all athletes will be allowed to participate in NAIA-sponsored men's sports, but only athletes whose biological sex is female at birth and who have not started hormone therapy will be allowed to participate in women's sports.

A student who has begun hormone therapy is permitted to participate in activities such as workouts, practices, and team activities, but not in intercollegiate competitions. However, all students have the opportunity to participate in cheering and dancing competitions.

Below is a list of NAIA member schools in Tennessee that must comply with the new policy:

• Bethel University
• Bryan College
• Cumberland University
• Fisk University
• Freed Hardeman University
• Johnson University
• Milligan University
• Tennessee Wesleyan University
• The University of Tennessee Southern

“We know there are a lot of opinions and a lot of people have very emotional reactions to it, and we want to respect all of that,” Carr said. “But we feel like our primary responsibility is fairness in the competition, so we're going that route.” And we've tried as best we could to allow some participation for everyone,” said Jim Carr, NAIA president and CEO , in an interview with The Associated Press.

The AP contributed to this report.

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