A Lubbock judge has denied Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s request for a temporary injunction against the NCAA regarding its policies on transgender athletes in women’s sports.
Judge Les Hatch of Texas’ 237th District Court ruled against the state’s application, allowing the NCAA to continue its current policies.
“The Trump administration has made clear that the NCAA policy is consistent with the Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports Executive Order,” the NCAA wrote in a statement. “The NCAA is looking forward to another championship season getting underway for thousands of women student-athletes competing for national titles.”
The NCAA’s Transgender Eligibility Policy, effective Feb. 6, 2025, states that a student-athlete assigned male at birth may not compete on a women’s team.
The judge’s ruling means Paxton must pursue the state’s claims through regular litigation rather than immediate court intervention.
The case stems from a lawsuit filed Dec. 22, 2024, when Paxton sued the NCAA in Lubbock County’s 237th Judicial District. The lawsuit alleges the NCAA’s transgender athlete policies are false, misleading and deceptive to Texas consumers because they allow transgender women to compete in women’s sports categories without requiring genetic testing or hormone therapy.
In February, Paxton requested a temporary injunction that would have required the NCAA to implement genetic screening of student-athletes, including testing for the SRY gene. His request also sought to prohibit transgender women from participating in women’s sports categories and asked the NCAA to remove the word “women” from its female competitions.
The attorney general argued this injunction would prevent consumer deception and ensure compliance with Texas law and a recent executive order issued by President Donald Trump.
In its response, the NCAA opposed the request, arguing that mandating genetic material collection from thousands of female student-athletes would infringe on privacy rights. The organization noted that no state or athletic organization currently requires such testing of female athletes.
The NCAA’s legal team includes Victor Vital, Ryan Patrick and Brian Singleterry of Haynes Boone. They declined to comment. The team also included Thomas C. Riney and C. Jason Fenton from the Underwood Law Firm, but they did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Texas attorney general’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit’s main allegations against the NCAA are deceptive trade practices. The state alleges the NCAA engages in “false, deceptive and misleading trade practices” by advertising certain sports categories as “women’s” categories while permitting biological men to participate in these categories through the Transgender Eligibility Policy.
The lawsuit also alleges misrepresentation of policy alignment. The NCAA claims that its amended rules align with President Trump’s Executive Order “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” but the state argues this is false. The amended policy does not keep men out of women’s sports and contradicts the executive order in multiple respects.
The state’s lawsuit, which cites the case of Blair Fleming, a transgender athlete who competed in NCAA women’s volleyball, as an example of what it considers problematic policy implementation, has the potential to impact the rights of transgender athletes significantly.
In addition, the lawsuit alleges the NCAA’s definition of sex is based on birth records and designations assigned by doctors rather than biological makeup at conception, allowing for the alteration of birth records and enabling biological men to participate in women’s sports.