I don't really understand the NAIA's competition angst.

So, much is often made of the NCAA's transgender policies, with emphasis placed on the potential of NCAA athletes to turn pro (or Olympian) and therefore possibly embark on athletic careers leading to wealth and fame.

The stakes are high, say the anti-trans-participation advocates. We can't have trans women "unfairly" messing up stats and ruining promising careers.

To be clear, I don't agree with those arguments, but they're made with a straight face and sometimes by quite sincere people whom I believe are sincerely mistaken.

But none of that applies to NAIA athletes, students at very small institutions, who are never going to turn pro or have Olympic careers, or anything like that.

NAIA leagues are recreational, intramural sports that students play for the love of sport. They play for all the best reasons that people play sports — exercise, good health, having fun, making friends, stress relief and other mental-health benefits.

Don't trans people deserve those benefits too?

Why this strict emphasis on competition? Why is that suddenly the be-all, end-all of recreational sports?

I suggest a certain disingenuity on the part of the NAIA as I observe that member colleges tend to be private, conservative Christian institutions that already discriminate against transgender people and other queer people. In many NAIA colleges, just being openly transgender or gay is enough to get you expelled.

So, pardon me if I don't take this new policy at face value.