The US President, Donald Trump, has signed an execution order that prohibits “transwomen” from participating in women’s sports in the future. This could have an impact on schools, universities, amateur sports and professional competitions across the country. The order, titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” not only prohibits participation but also outlines possible sanctions for institutions, organizations and providers that fail to comply with the regulations.
The signing of the order coincided with the “National Girls and Women in Sports Day.” The order gives federal agencies, including the Justice and Education Departments, more discretion to ensure that institutions that receive federal funding adhere to Title IX in line with the Trump administration’s interpretation of “gender” as the sex assigned at birth, according to ESPN.
During the signing ceremony, Trump stated, “With this executive order, the war on women’s sports is over. From now on, women’s sports will only be for women.”
Trump also asked the children present to come to his table, commenting, “The intelligence agency is worried about you kids? If we need to worry about you, we have big problems..”
Before signing the order, Trump told the press, “We’ve taken the ‘woke’ madness out of our military and now we’re taking it out of women’s sports.”
This statement referred to the recent measures of his administration to remove initiatives for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) from the military, which were forced under the Biden administration.
Trump also announced that his administration would exclude transgender athletes from participating in international events, including the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles and the World Cup, stating, “In Los Angeles in 2028, my administration will not watch men beating and mistreating women athletes. We will not allow it.”
Trump also instructed the Homeland Security Minister to reject visa applications from men who attempt to enter the US in a fraudulent manner and claim to be female athletes.
The US Olympic and Paralympic Committee and the organizers of the 2028 Olympics did not immediately respond to a request for a statement, according to ESPN.
The participation of transgender athletes in US women’s sports had sparked a national debate and initiatives to protect children and women in recent years. Supporting groups and organizations argued that transgender athletes should be included based on their gender identity, not the sex assigned at birth.
The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, stated on Wednesday that the order “upholds the promise of Title IX” and “will take immediate action, including enforcement actions, against schools and sports organizations” that deny girls and women gender-specific sports and gender-specific locker rooms. The ESPN article explains that the order provides clarity, stating that the Education Department will be empowered to punish schools that allow transgender athletes to compete in women’s events, as they would be in violation of Title IX, which prohibits sexual discrimination in schools.
Trump also highlighted the role of “trans-sport” opponent and multiple US swimming champion Riley Gaines Barker, who, around a year ago, petitioned the NCAA to “disqualify all transgender athletes who participate in women’s events and redistribute awards, points and other achievements gained by these athletes” (RT DE reported).
In 2022, the transgender swimmer Lia Thomas won the NCAA 500-meter freestyle event, sparking the first debates about fairness in sports (RT DE reported).
At the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, the Algerian boxer Imane Khelif and the Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting were at the center of a controversy over the verification of gender in sports, while the International Olympic Committee defended their participation.
In 2023, the World Athletics Federation banned transgender women who had undergone male puberty from competing in women’s events, with the president of the World Athletics Federation, Sebastian Coe, stating that the decision prioritized the fairness for women athletes.
Upon the beginning of his second term, Trump signed an order recognizing only two genders – male and female.
Legal challenges are expected and have already been announced by LGBTQ+ organizations and supporters from the political spectrum. Some of Trump’s earlier orders have been blocked by federal judges. The validity of the latest order may depend on the interpretation of Title IX, a civil rights law that prohibits gender-based discrimination in federally funded educational programs.