Trump signs executive order intended to bar transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports
- Share via
President Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday designed to ban transgender athletes from participating in women’s or girls’ sporting events.
The order, titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” gives federal agencies, including the Justice and Education departments, wide latitude to ensure entities that receive federal funding abide by Title IX in alignment with the Trump administration’s view, which interprets a person’s sex as the gender they were assigned at birth.
“With this executive order, the war on women’s sports is over,” Trump said at a signing ceremony that included lawmakers and female athletes who have come out in support of a ban.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the order “upholds the promise of Title IX” and will require “immediate action, including enforcement actions, against schools and athletic associations” that deny women single-sex sports and single-sex locker rooms.
The timing of the order coincided with National Girls and Women in Sports Day, and is the latest in a string of executive actions from Trump aimed at transgender people.
President Trump signed executive orders Monday asserting that the U.S. government recognizes only two sexes that are “not changeable,” and reversing Biden administration directives on LGBTQ+ rights.
Trump found during the campaign that his pledge to “keep men out of women’s sports” resonated beyond the usual party lines. He leaned into the rhetoric before the election, pledging to get rid of the “transgender insanity,” though his campaign offered little in the way of details.
The executive order conflicts with laws in California and other blue states that forbid discrimination based on gender identity. The courts are expected to take up the issue.
The order offers some clarity. For example, it authorizes the Education Department to penalize schools that allow transgender athletes to compete, citing noncompliance with Title IX, which prohibits sexual discrimination in schools. Any school found in violation could potentially be ineligible for federal funding.
The order also calls for private sporting bodies to meet at the White House so the president can hear in person “the stories of female athletes who have suffered livelong injuries, who have been silenced and forced to shower with men and compete with men on athletic fields across the country.”
Trump also issued a warning to the International Olympic Committee ahead of the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The president said he had empowered Secretary of State Marco Rubio to make it clear to the IOC that “America categorically rejects transgender lunacy. We want them to change everything having to do with the Olympics and having to do with this absolutely ridiculous subject.”
The IOC has essentially deferred to the international federations for each sport. That could change, however, when a new IOC president comes on to replace the retiring Thomas Bach. Former track star Sebastian Coe, now the leader of World Athletics, is among the candidates up for election in March. Coe has been a strong proponent of limiting participation in female sports to cisgender women.
Trump also said Director of Homeland Security Kristi Noem will “deny any and all visa applications made by men attempting to fraudulently enter the United States while identifying themselves as women athletes to try and get into the Games.”
The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee and organizers for the 2028 Olympics did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The order is the latest move by the Trump administration to limit the rights of the transgender population.
Trump’s previous actions have sought to have the federal government reject the idea that a person can transition to a gender other than the one they were assigned at birth. The stance has implications for other areas including passports and prisons. He has also opened the door to barring transgender service members from the military, and has called to end federal health insurance and other funding for gender-affirming care for transgender people under age 19 and to restrict the way lessons on gender can be taught in schools.
The latest order was condemned by trans rights advocates, including the National Women’s Law Center and GLAAD.
“Contrary to what the president wants you to believe, trans students do not pose threats to sports, schools or this country, and they deserve the same opportunities as their peers to learn, play and grow up in safe environments,” said Fatima Goss Graves, president and chief executive of the National Women’s Law Center.
President Trump issued an executive order Tuesday that aims to stop the use of puberty blockers, hormones and other forms of gender-affirming care for transgender youth.
Already, transgender people have sued over several of the policies and are likely to challenge more of them in court. Civil rights lawyers who are handling the cases have asserted that in some instances, Trump’s orders violate laws adopted by Congress and protections in the Constitution — and that they overstep the authority of the president.
There could be similar questions on this order, for instance: Can the president demand that the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. change its policies?
NCAA President Charlie Baker told Republican senators in December that the organization would follow federal law. The NCAA did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
The California Interscholastic Federation, which governs high school sports in the state, reiterated its gender policy after Trump signed the order.
“The CIF provides students with the opportunity to belong, connect, and compete in education-based experiences in compliance with California law … which permits students to participate in school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, consistent with the student’s gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the student’s records,” the federation said.
Trump’s order came a day after three former teammates of transgender swimmer Lia Thomas filed a lawsuit accusing the NCAA, Ivy League, Harvard and their own school, Penn, of conspiring to allow Thomas to compete at conference and national championships.
The lawsuit, which makes similar allegations to those in a suit filed last year by Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines and others, alleges the defendants violated Title IX by allowing Thomas to swim as a woman. Gaines joined Trump for the signing ceremony.
Graves writes for the Associated Press. Times staff writer Eric Sondheimer contributed to this report.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
