On Wednesday, President Donald Trump will issue an executive order prohibiting individuals who were biologically assigned male at birth from competing in women’s or girls’ sports.
The directive, which Trump is anticipated to sign during a ceremony in the afternoon, represents yet another assertive change in the federal government’s approach to transgender individuals and their rights under the Republican president’s second term.
On his first day in office last month, the president issued a broad directive requiring the federal government to define sex as exclusively male or female. This directive must be reflected in official papers like passports and in policies like federal prison assignments.
Throughout the campaign, Trump discovered that his promise to prohibit men from participating in women’s sports struck a chord with those outside of his typical party. Support for transgender rights in society and government has gone too far, according to more than half of respondents polled by AP VoteCast.
Although his campaign provided few specifics, he capitalized on the pre-election atmosphere by promising to end the transgender madness.
His administration’s interpretation of Title IX, the legislation most renowned for its role in preventing sexual harassment on campuses and promoting gender equity in athletics, will be the subject of Wednesday’s directive, which falls on National Girls and Women in Sports Day.
U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, a Republican from South Carolina, stated that this executive order protects the rights of female athletes who have dedicated their entire lives to compete at the highest levels, restores fairness, and preserves the original intent of Title IX.
It is within the power of each government to interpret the historic law in its own way. The push-pull dynamic is demonstrated by the last two presidential administrations, including Trump’s first.
A 2020 Title IX policy published by Betsy DeVos, the education secretary during Trump’s first term, limited the definition of sexual harassment and mandated that universities look into allegations only after they were reported to specific individuals.
Last April, the Biden administration reversed that policy with a new one that gave victims of school sexual assault additional protections and said that LGBTQ+ students’ rights would be safeguarded by federal law. Transgender athletes were not specifically addressed by the policy. However, the new rule was promptly challenged in court by more than half a dozen Republican-led states.
Trump’s only statement, according to Duke Law School professor Doriane Lambelet Coleman, is, “We are going to read the regulation traditionally.”
It’s unclear how this order would impact the transgender athletic population, a demographic that is very hard to define.
According to a 2021 Associated Press investigation, jurisdictions that were considering banning transgender athletes frequently were unable to provide examples of situations in which their involvement was problematic. There was only one transgender girl participating in K–12 sports in Utah when state lawmakers overrode Governor Spencer Cox’s veto in 2022. Transgender guys were not subject to any restrictions on participation.
Cheryl Cooky, a Purdue University professor who focuses on the interaction of gender, sports, media, and society, told the AP following Trump’s election that this is a solution seeking a problem.
However, it appears that the precise quantity of transgender athletes is mostly irrelevant. From Lia Thomas swimming for the University of Pennsylvania to the recently concluded season of the San Jose State volleyball team, any instance of a transgender female athlete competing—or simply thought to be competing—attracts a great deal of attention.
— AP National Writer Will Graves
