TRENTON, N.J. — Assemblyman Greg McGuckin is criticizing the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) for refusing to change its transgender athlete policy, despite a federal directive from former President Donald Trump aimed at banning transgender participation in girls’ and women’s sports.
“The NJSIAA is turning its back on biological reality and competitive integrity,” McGuckin (R-Ocean) said. “Girls in New Jersey deserve a level playing field, but instead, our state’s athletic body is bowing to woke ideology and ignoring clear federal guidance.”
McGuckin sponsors the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act (A775), which would require student-athletes to compete on teams that align with their biological sex. The NJSIAA’s policy, in place since 2009 and revised in 2017, allows transgender athletes to compete based solely on their gender identity without requiring medical documentation.
NJSIAA legal counsel Steve Goodell reaffirmed the policy during an executive committee meeting Wednesday, according to media reports. The organization, which governs high school athletics statewide, has not indicated any plans to change the rule.
Trump’s Feb. 5 executive order prohibits transgender athletes from competing in girls’ and women’s sports, authorizing the U.S. Department of Education to penalize noncompliant schools. Federal investigations have already begun, including a case involving the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association after a girls’ basketball team forfeited a game following injuries to three players, two allegedly in plays involving a transgender athlete.
“If even one little girl loses an opportunity to compete and succeed, or one young woman is injured from this policy, women’s rights have been pushed to the back of the line,” McGuckin said. “I thought that’s what Title IX was designed to prevent.”
The NJSIAA’s decision ensures New Jersey remains at the center of the national debate over transgender participation in high school sports.
