Missouri, Oklahoma schools oppose NAIA's North Carolina plan

BARTLESVILLE, Okla. (AP) Two religious colleges in Missouri and Oklahoma say they won't take part in this year's NAIA cross-country championship because the meet was moved out of North Carolina in response to the state's law limiting LGBT protections.

The NAIA is the governing athletics group for several small colleges. It opposes a law that started as House Bill 2, which bans local ordinances allowing people to use locker rooms and bathrooms matching their gender identity.

The NCAA also removed high-profile games from North Carolina.

The Tulsa World reports that Oklahoma Wesleyan President Everett Piper said the NAIA should give female athletes ''the dignity of having their own restrooms.''

KYTV in Springfield, Missouri, says the College of the Ozarks cited similar reasons. President Jerry Davis called the NAIA's action ''political correctness gone berserk.''