President Donald Trump has signed an executive order banning transgender women from participating in women’s sports across the country.
“The war on women’s sports is over,” Trump announced on Wednesday, February 5, stating that schools receiving taxpayer funding would face investigations and risk losing federal funding if they allow biological males to compete in women’s sports or access female locker rooms.
Signed on National Girls and Women in Sports Day, the order establishes that it is U.S. policy to oppose male participation in women’s sports in the interest of safety, fairness, dignity, and truth.
The order also directs the assistant to the president for domestic policy to convene a meeting with:
Major athletic organizations
Governing sports bodies
Female athletes affected by trans participation
Trump’s latest action aligns with the Republican Party’s wider efforts to eliminate recognition of transgender identities in state and federal programs.
On his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order recognizing only two sexes and banning federal funding for programs related to gender ideology. Additionally, House Republicans recently passed a bill prohibiting trans women from competing in women’s sports nationwide.
Currently, nearly half of U.S. states already have laws restricting transgender participation in K-12 and higher education sports. However, Trump’s order would extend such restrictions nationwide.
The directive also instructs the education secretary to prioritize Title IX enforcement against educational institutions and athletic associations that require female students to:
Compete against transgender women
Share locker rooms with transgender individuals
“My administration will not stand by and watch men beat and batter women,” Trump declared, referencing an Algerian Olympic gold medalist boxer who was accused—without evidence—of being transgender.
Fatima Goss Graves, president of the National Women’s Law Center, condemned the order, arguing that transgender students pose no threat and should be granted equal sports opportunities.
“The far-right’s disturbing obsession with controlling the bodies, hearts, and minds of our country’s youth harms all students,” Graves said in a statement.
