A day before the women’s March Madness tournament began, Lubbock County District Judge Les Hatch issued an order late Monday denying Texas’ request for a temporary injunction in its lawsuit against the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
In a two-sentence order, Judge Hatch determined Texas wasn’t entitled to the temporary injunction that would have required the NCAA to subject all student athletes to sex screening.
Texas had requested the relief last month, specifically noting the Women’s Basketball Tournament was less than a month away while asking the court for the temporary injunction.
“The NCAA now claims that it has brought its Transgender Eligibility Policy (TEP) into alignment with the ‘clear, national standard’ set by President Trump’s February 2025 Executive Order: Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” Texas told the court. “Nothing could be further from the truth. In both spirit and text, the NCAA’s new policy stands in stark contrast to the President’s Executive Order. And — more importantly — the new policy does not, in fact, keep men out of women’s sports. It is an illusion of change designed to trick consumers into re-engaging with the NCAA.”
In arguing against the injunction request, the NCAA filed a response March 13, arguing what Texas was really trying to do was “advance its own policy preferences” by “hold[ing] the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament hostage.”
The NCAA explained to the court that after this lawsuit was filed, it updated its transgender participation policy to “ban individuals designated male at birth from competing in women’s sports.”
“Not satisfied with the 2025 Policy, the AG pivoted. Now it wants the NCAA to ‘begin screening the sex of student athletes (such as by screening for the presence of the SRY gene),’” the NCAA told the court. “Until the AG’s new demand is met, the AG seeks to disrupt the 2025 Women’s Basketball Tournament — a tournament unconnected with the issue of transgender athletes because there is no evidence that a transgender female will participate in the tournament.”
In December, Paxton issued a news release announcing the filing of the lawsuit against the NCAA for “engaging in false, deceptive, and misleading practices by marketing sporting events as ‘women’s’ competitions only to then provide consumers with mixed sex competitions where biological males compete against biological females.” The lawsuit accuses the NCAA of violating the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
Paxton accused the NCAA of “intentionally and knowingly jeopardizing the safety and wellbeing of women by deceptively changing women’s competitions into co-ed competitions.”
In February, Texas filed its request for a temporary injunction in the case that, in addition to the sex screening requirement, would have forced the NCAA to stop using the terms “women’s,” “female” or “girl” in connection with the marketing and advertising of its women’s sports teams.
Texas alleged in the filing that the NCAA has “long fooled consumers into believing that only biological women compete in its ‘women’s’ sports categories.”
“The NCAA fails to disclose that some of its women’s sporting events are mixed-sex events with the intent to induce consumers seeking to support women’s sports to purchase the associated goods and services,” the lawsuit alleges. “Many consumers would not purchase goods and services associated with NCAA women’s sporting events if they knew that biological males were participating.”
Texas is represented by Rob Farquharson, Kelley Owens, and Christopher M. Molak of the attorney general’s office.
The NCAA is represented by Victor Vital, Ryan Patrick and Brian Singleterry of Haynes Boone, and Jason Fenton and Tom Riney of Underwood Law.
The case number is DC-2024-CV-1835.