United States President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday (5) trying to exclude women and transgender women from women’s sports, a directive that supporters say will restore justice, but critics claim to infringe the rights of A small minority of athletes.
The Order instructs the Justice Department to ban transgender girls and women from participating in women’s school sports under Trump IX’s interpretation, a law against sexual discrimination in education.
“The war against women’s sports is over,” Trump said at a signature ceremony with dozens of women and girls aligned behind him. “My administration will not be in their arms crossed watching men win and assault female athletes.”
The executive act, which will probably face legal challenges, requires “immediate application” throughout the country. It threatens to cut the federal funding from any school that allows transgender women or girls to compose in sports competitions designated for women.
The measure would affect only a small number of athletes. The president of NCAA (National University Athletic Association) told a Senate panel in December that he was aware of less than ten transgender athletes among the 520,000 competing in 1,100 member schools.
But the question appealed with voters, who answered enthusiastically applause when Trump mentioned prohibitions to transgender athletes in their campaign rallies. He repeatedly exhibited television ads that criticized the permission to make women and girls to compete in women’s sports.
Research has found that most Americans oppose transgender athletes competing in sports that align with their gender identity.
Other restrictions on transgender rights
The order comes after a number of other Trump executive orders restricting transgender rights. One of them tries to interrupt all federal health support that assist in gender transition to people under 19, and another prohibits transgender people from serving in the Armed Forces. These orders faced immediate legal challenges.
On his first day, on January 20, Trump signed an order demanding that government officials refer only to “sex,” not the “gender”, stating that sex is an “immutable biological reality” that prevents any change from in gender identity.
The debate on the inclusion of transgender sports in sports has often focused on court, with opponents saying that people who have undergone male puberty have physical advantages. Transgender activists say there is little evidence to show that transgender women have an unfair advantage.
The order reverses the interpretation of the Biden administration of title IX, that it protects transgender people from sex -based discrimination. This interpretation was blocked by a federal judge in 2024.
More than 20 states approved laws that prohibit transgender girls from participating in women’s sports, some of whom faced legal challenges.
NCAA requires transgender women athletes to meet testosterone limits in a sports base, but it does not track transgender participation in school sports.
Kelley Robinson, president of the LGBTQ Defense Group Human Rights Campaign, said Trump’s actions expose children to harassment and discrimination. “For many students, sports are about finding a place to belong. We must want it to all children – not partisan policies that make life harder for them,” he said in a statement.
Wednesday’s executive order will instruct the internal security department to review transgender women visa requests to ensure that they are aligned with their sex attributed to birth when entering the United States to compete in women’s sports.
“If you are entering the country and claim to be a woman, but you are a man here to compete against these women, let’s revise it for fraud,” said a White House spokesman.
Trump will instruct the State Department to “demand changes” within the COI (International Olympic Committee) to prevent transgender athletes from comparing. The United States will use “all its authority and ability” to apply the order at Olympic events on American soil, the government spokesman said.
The 2028 Olympic Games are scheduled for Los Angeles, United States.
