Kentucky Attorney General Urges the NCAA to Restore Female Athletes' Records Wrongfully Erased by Male Competitors

He continues to fight for women's sports

FRANKFORT, Ky. (July 23, 2025) – Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman is standing up for Kentucky’s daughters, urging the NCAA to restore the records, titles, awards and recognitions female athletes earned but were denied because of politics that allowed biological males to compete in women’s sports.

In additional to featuring one of the best rivalries in the history of college athletics, Kentucky was also in the spotlight of the fight for fairness in women’s sports when former 12-time NCAA All-American University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines tied with a trans swimmer.

“Kentucky is at the epicenter of college athletics, and we must continue to protect women’s sports from unfair politics that let men invade women’s sports and private spaces,” said Attorney General Coleman, a graduate of the University of Kentucky.  “As the Attorney General and a father of two daughters, I’m eager to see these records be corrected and these women honored with awards and recognitions they worked so hard to earn.”

In the letter, the attorneys general wrote, "The policies that were created, promoted, and encouraged by the Biden Administration and the NCAA not only enabled biological men to compete against women in sporting events across the country, but denied deserving women the recognitions they had earned in events that you managed…. While we appreciate the steps the NCAA has taken since then, there is far more the NCAA can do for the women athletes that have competed and continue to compete in your events.”

The attorneys general continue, “The NCAA should take this step for former athletes to preserve the integrity of Title IX and show your support for the women harmed by years of bad policy. As your website states, ‘Regardless of where they start, student-athletes strive to end each season at one of the NCAA’s 90 championships in 24 sports.’ Women athletes strived, succeeded, and were cheated of what they earned.”

Attorney General Coleman has been a staunch supporter of female athletes. Last year, General Coleman led efforts to block the Biden Administration’s rule to undermine Title IX and equal opportunities in education and athletics for women. Along with five other attorneys general, Coleman challenged the Biden Administration’s rule in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, and the coalition eventually won a 5-4 victory at the U.S. Supreme Court. If allowed to take effect, the rule would have required K-12 schools, colleges and universities to allow males identifying as females access to women’s sports, bathrooms and locker rooms. 

Attorney General Coleman joined the Mississippi-led letter, along with attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming.

You can read the letter here.