Navratilova, Gaines warn protection for female athletes 'at a precipice' as NCAA governing board meets

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Riley Gaines: People are waking up’ to the ‘threat’ of gender ideology

Former NCAA athlete Riley Gaines and West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey discuss their fight to protect fairness in women’s sports.

The tide may be turning in favor of protecting female athletes against playing biological males in women’s sports, according to some activists.

The Our Bodies Our Sports coalition hosted an X Spaces event on Thursday which featured several speakers demanding the NCAA ban transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports.

According to the press release, "Over the past week, the NCAA Board of Governors, which is meeting [Thursday], has received personalized letters from over 7,000 female NCAA athletes urging the organization to repeal discriminatory policies that allow male bodies to roster on women’s collegiate teams and take playing time, opportunities to compete, and scholarships from female athletes."

Speakers ranged from college athletes forced to play against biological males to notable sports stars, such as former professional tennis player Martina Navratilova and former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines. Throughout the event, women like Payton McNabb and Madisan DeBos shared their difficult and harmful experiences competing with transgender athletes.

Navratilova and Gaines told Fox News Digital that more people support protection for female sports after hearing the impact transgender athletes have on girls. (AP Photo/Pat Eaton-Robb, File)

Though noting that some of the stories were "depressing," Navratilova took heart knowing that "people are getting more aware of what's going on."

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"It became much more emotional because you see the person, the woman that was affected by this. And I think the more athletes we have, especially the ones that have been affected personally by this, they speak out. The ones that got hurt, the ones that lost the sport, the ones that lost a podium spot. The more they make it personal and speak out, the more people become aware, and the tide will turn even stronger," Navratilova told Fox News Digital.

She added, "Because when you speak about a whole group of people, it can be just the thing. But when you make it personal, it becomes much more gut-wrenching and visceral, and people get emotional and passionate and get involved. And I think we need to just keep putting the pressure on and keep speaking out."

The NCAA faces a lawsuit by Gaines and multiple other current and former college athletes. (Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)

Gaines, an OutKick contributor, agreed that sometimes it takes "the severity and the likelihood" of stories like McNabb’s (who suffered long-term physical injuries) to understand the need to protect girls and women’s sports. However, she remained optimistic that more people are "waking up" to the issue. 

"I do believe we're at a precipice. I do think, not just with the gender ideology movement, but really a lot of these cultural issues we're seeing, people are waking up, whether that's parents, whether that's coaches, whether that's elected officials, whether that's Democrats, Republicans. None of that stuff even really matters anymore," Gaines said.

She noted, "But I think people have to be impacted for them to find it worthwhile and necessary to take a stand. Even I did. I had to be impacted before I said something."

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The NCAA faces a lawsuit by more than a dozen current and former college athletes alleging the organization made multiple Title IX violations through its transgender participation policy. Gaines was one of the athletes named in the lawsuit. 

Martina Navratilova and Riley Gaines spoke at an X Spaces Event hosted by the "Our Bodies Our Sports" organization. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images for Laureus/Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) announced earlier this month that it would ban biological males from taking part in female sports, putting further pressure on the NCAA.

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Following the NCAA Board of Governors meeting Thursday, a statement released on its website said, "The Board of Governors discussed transgender student-athlete participation. The current policy remains under review. College sports are the premier stage for women's sports in America and the NCAA will continue to promote Title IX, make unprecedented investments in women's sports and ensure fair competition for all student-athletes in all NCAA championships."

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