Trump signs order intended to ban transgender athletes from female sports

U.S. President Donald Trump signed an enforcement bid connected Wednesday intended to prohibition transgender athletes from participating successful girls' and women's sports.

The order, titled "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports," gives national agencies wide latitude to guarantee entities that person national backing abide by Title IX successful alignment with the Trump administration's view, which interprets "sex" arsenic the sex idiosyncratic was assigned astatine birth.

"With this enforcement order, the warfare connected women's sports is over," Trump said astatine a signing ceremonial successful the East Room that included lawmakers and pistillate athletes who person travel retired successful enactment of a ban, including erstwhile collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines.

White House property caput Karoline Leavitt said the bid "upholds the committedness of Title IX" and volition necessitate "immediate action, including enforcement actions, against schools and diversion associations" that contradict women single-sex sports and single-sex locker rooms.

Advocates condemn move

The bid 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 bash not airs threats to sports, schools oregon this country, and they merit the aforesaid opportunities arsenic their peers to learn, play and turn up successful harmless environments," said Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Women's Law Center.

The timing of the bid coincided with National Girls and Women successful Sports Day and is the latest successful a drawstring of enforcement actions from the Republican president aimed astatine transgender people.

The bid offers immoderate clarity. For example, it authorizes the Education Department to penalize schools that let transgender athletes to compete, citing noncompliance with Title IX, which prohibits intersexual favoritism successful schools. Any schoolhouse recovered successful usurpation could perchance beryllium ineligible for national funding.

Enforcing Trump's orders volition beryllium a precedence of the department. In a telephone this week, the acting manager of the Office for Civil Rights told unit they would request to align their investigations with Trump's priorities, according to radical who were connected the telephone who spoke connected the information of anonymity to AP for fearfulness of reprisals.

Since Trump took office, the section has opened an enquiry into Denver, Colorado, nationalist schools implicit an all-gender bath that replaced a girls' bathroom, portion leaving different 1 exclusive to boys.

Trump besides issued a informing to the International Olympic Committee up of the 2028 Summer Olympics successful Los Angeles. The president said helium had empowered Secretary of State Marco Rubio to marque it wide to the IOC that "America categorically rejects transgender lunacy. We privation them to alteration everything having to bash with the Olympics and having to bash with this perfectly ridiculous subject."

The IOC has deferred to the planetary federations for each sport.

That could change, however, erstwhile a caller IOC president comes connected to regenerate the retiring Thomas Bach. Former way prima Sebastian Coe, present the person of World Athletics, is among the candidates up for predetermination successful March. Coe has been a beardown proponent of limiting information successful pistillate sports to cisgender women.

Trump besides said that Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem volition "deny immoderate and each visa applications made by men attempting to fraudulently participate the United States portion identifying themselves arsenic women athletes to effort and get into the Games."

Organizers for the 2028 Olympics did not instantly respond to requests for comment.

Other actions absorption connected gender

The bid is the latest of a bid of moves by the Trump medication targeting transgender people.

Previous ones person sought to person the national authorities cull the thought that radical tin modulation to a sex different than the 1 assigned astatine birth. That has implications for areas including passports and prisons.

Trump besides has opened the doorway to barring transgender work members from the military; called to extremity national wellness security and different backing for gender-affirming attraction for transgender radical younger than 19; and restrict the mode lessons connected sex tin beryllium taught successful schools.

Pushback connected immoderate of the administration's initiatives has begun successful court. Transgender radical person sued implicit respective of the policies, and much lawsuits are apt to come. Civil rights lawyers handling the cases person asserted that successful immoderate instances, Trump's orders interruption laws adopted by Congress and protections successful the Constitution — and that they overstep the authorization of the president.

There could beryllium akin questions for this order, for instance: Can the president request that the NCAA alteration its policies?

NCAA President Charlie Baker said its Board of Governors was reviewing the bid and "will instrumentality indispensable steps to align NCAA argumentation successful the coming days, taxable to further guidance from the administration." Baker, who said past twelvemonth helium was alert of less than 10 progressive NCAA athletes who identified arsenic transgender, noted the bid astatine slightest provides a azygous argumentation alternatively of a patchwork of authorities laws.