Throughout his presidential campaign, newly-elected United States President Donald Trump made it clear that he intended to prevent transgender women from competing in women’s sports, and it sounds like he is making a move to do just that. According to the Associated Press, via ESPN, Donald Trump will sign an executive order Wednesday designed to prevent people who were assigned male at birth from participating in women’s or girls’ sporting events throughout the country. This follows through on a promise Trump made after winning the 2024 Presidential Election.
“With the stroke of my pen on day one, we are going to stop the transgender lunacy,” Trump said during a speech after winning the election. “And I will sign executive orders to end child sexual mutilation, get transgender out of the military, and out of our elementary schools and middle schools and high schools — and we will keep men out of women’s sports.” While the executive order may not have come on “day one,” as he suggested, it will coincide with National Girls and Women in Sports Day celebrated on Wednesday.
Although Trump has made his intentions clear, it was not initially obvious how he planned to prevent transgender women from competing in women’s sports. The Associated Press now reports that the executive order will involve a reinterpretation of Title IX, the law known for pursuing gender equity in athletics and preventing sexual harassment on campuses. “This executive order restores fairness, upholds Title IX’s original intent, and defends the rights of female athletes who have worked their whole lives to compete at the highest levels,” U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, a Republican from South Carolina, stated according to the Associated Press.
Every presidential administration has the authority to issue its own interpretations of this landmark legislation. The Joe Biden administration interpreted Title IX to protect the rights of LGBTQ+ students under federal law, but Trump and his administration appear set to move forward with a different interpretation that eliminates these protections for transgender women. It’s unclear how many transgender athletes this move will affect throughout the country.
