Ban trans women from participating in women’s sports

President Donald Trump's attempts to restrict trangender women from participating in women's sports have entered a new arena — Olympic sports.

On July 21, the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee, which is responsible for organizing the nation's Olympic teams, updated its "athlete safety" policy. The change requires its around 50 sport-specific national governing bodies to adopt more restrictive policies regarding transgender athletes.

As a result of this shift, each of the national organizations that manage amateur sports, groups like USA Cycling, USA Gymnastics, and USA Softball, must adopt policies that are "consistent with" Trump's Feb. 5 executive order "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports."

Trump's executive order, which largely focused on restricting transgender girls from competing with girls in school sports, included a section aimed at promoting similar policies for amateur and professional sports' governing bodies — including Olympic sports. 

The pressure appears to have worked. U.S. Olympic's president and CEO confirmed the changes in a letter to national governing bodies, The Associated Press reported July 23. "The USOPC has engaged in a series of respectful and constructive conversations with federal officials," the officials' letter said. "As a federally chartered organization, we have an obligation to comply with federal expectations."

The letter also said that the revised policy "emphasizes the importance of ensuring fair and safe competition environments for women. All National Governing Bodies are required to update their applicable policies in alignment." But neither the safety policy, nor the letter included a deadline or more specifics. 

The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee did not respond to our request for comment. 

National governing bodies are most well known for their role in forming U.S. Olympic teams, but the impact at that level may be small. In the 2024 Olympics, two transgender American athletes competed.

Beyond elite competitions, such governing bodies serve as the national organizing engine for their sport of choice — all the way down to the local level. They host competitions, train athletes, run youth camps, and organize club teams. 

Want to join your local curling club? It's probably affiliated with USA Curling. But it's not clear yet how local sports clubs may be affected by this policy change and whether they would be required to comply. 

The change may also be subject to legal challenge, the AP reported. The 1978 Ted Stevens Act states that certified national governing bodies cannot have "eligibility criteria related to amateur status or to participation…that are more restrictive than those of the appropriate international sports federation." 

International sports federations are the international counterparts to the United States' national governing bodies that set the rules for their respective sport in the Olympics. Although some have rules governing the participation of transgender athletes, many do not, or allow participation under certain circumstances. 

The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee's shift shows Trump's policy is being implemented beyond the scope of school sports. But it remains to be seen how each governing body will respond to the policy change and whether litigation will hamper it. Trump's promise to ban trans women from women's sports remains In the Works.

President Donald Trump has tried enforcing a policy to ban transgender women from participating in women's sports in schools, with mixed results. 

Since Trump's February executive order, the Education Department has opened Title IX investigations into more than 20 entities including state education departments, statewide athletic associations and school districts for their policies related to sports participation in K-12 schools. The administration argues that schools that let transgender girls play on girls sports teams violate civil rights law. Transgender girls were assigned male at birth but identify as girls.

Enacted in 1972, Title IX prohibits sex-based discrimination in federally funded schools. The law applies to admissions, classrooms and sexual harassment policies. It is most well-known for how it changed athletics by requiring that women and men be provided equitable participation opportunities.

The administration set up a joint Justice and Education department "special investigations team" to review athletic policies and manage the cases.

Under the Biden administration, the Education Department finalized regulations that expanded Title IX protections to LGBTQ+ students (in areas outside of athletics), but they were blocked by a federal court. The Biden administration also proposed regulations that would have banned schools from adopting "one-size-fits-all" policies on transgender athletes, but they were never formalized. 

The Trump administration has reverted to enforcing regulations from Trump's first term and is using Title IX as support for its policy against transgender athletes.

The Education Department's Office of Civil Rights has launched investigations into several states' school athletic policies, including in California, Maine and Minnesota. Twenty-seven states have laws banning transgender athletes from participating in sports teams consistent with their gender identity.

Some organizations have complied with the department's requests to change their policies to ban transgender girls from participating in girl's school sports. On Feb. 20, the Education Department said that the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association and the New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association changed policies to comply with Trump's directive.

The University of Pennsylvania also entered a resolution with the Education Department on July 1 after it found the university had violated Title IX by allowing transgender swimmer Lia Thomas compete with women in 2022. As part of the resolution, the University of Pennsylvania agreed to change its policies, strip Thomas of her records and titles, and send an apology letter to "each impacted female swimmer."

But the administration has not had universal success implementing this order. 

After finding that Maine violated Title IX, the Agriculture Department cut federal nutrition funding to the state. Maine sued, and the administration settled, allowing funds to continue. But the administration filed a separate lawsuit against the state.

On June 25, the Education Department found that California violated Title IX by letting trans athletes participate in women's sports. A trans high school junior, AB Hernandez, participated in the state's track-and-field championship. 

Her participation prompted the California Interscholastic Federation, which oversees school sports, to issue a temporary rule change letting more female athletes participate in the events that Hernandez was competing in and allowing more medals to be given to female athletes if Hernandez got a medal. 

The Trump administration's demands conflict with a 2013 California state law that lets students participate in sports according to their gender identity.

Despite California's law, the Education Department demanded that transgender girls be prohibited from playing on girls teams altogether, and gave the state 10 days to comply. On July 7, California rejected the Education Department's demands. In response, the Justice Department sued California.

Overall, Trump's promise to ban transgender women from participating in women's sports has resulted in some policy changes, but some states and athletic organizations are still allowing inclusive participation. We'll continue to monitor this order and its fallout. For now, Trump's pledge remains In the Works.

On Feb 5, President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports."

"It is the policy of the United States to rescind all funds from educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities" by allowing transgender women and girls to participate in school sports, the order said, citing Title IX, the nation's leading gender equity law.

Enacted in 1972, Title IX prohibits sex-based discrimination in federally funded schools. The law applies to admissions, classrooms, and protecting students against sexual harassment, but it is most well-known for how it changed athletics by requiring that women and men be provided equitable opportunities to participate.

Under the Biden administration, the Education Department issued regulations to expand Title IX protections to LGBTQ+ students. The move came in response to the landmark 2020 Supreme Court decision, Bostock v. Clayton County, which broadened legal understanding of "sex discrimination" under employment law. The regulations, which were ultimately blocked by a federal district court, did not address trans athletes' eligibility. 

Trump's order directs the education secretary to update guidance and regulations to clarify that "women's sports are reserved for women" based on definitions of male and female that the White House outlined in a previous executive order. 

Twenty-five states already have laws banning transgender athletes from participating in sports teams consistent with their gender identity. The House of Representatives passed a bill to amend Title IX to prohibit the participation of trans girls in girls sports; it is under consideration in the Senate. 

Trump's order also tells the Education Department to prioritize Title IX enforcement, which can include a revocation of federal funding, against schools that "require" women to compete with transgender women in sports. It also directs all agencies to review and rescind grants from any programs that do not comply.

Historically, states have operated under the threat of having their Title IX funding revoked for not complying with the law. But the federal government has not actually employed funding revocation in response to violations. The Trump administration appears more poised to act: During a Feb. 21 gathering of governors at the White House, Trump told Maine Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, that her state must comply "because you're not going to get any federal funding at all if you don't." Mills responded that she would see him in court.

The NCAA said it plans to comply with Trump's order, and had voted on a new policy that "limits competition in women's sports to student-athletes assigned female at birth only."

Trump's move directs agencies to implement this policy, but formal regulations codifying this policy position will likely take some time. In the meantime the Education Department may try to enforce this policy based on existing Title IX regulations, which allow for separate sports teams and facilities based on "sex."

Trump's executive order is already facing legal challenges from two transgender athletes in New Hampshire, and will likely face additional challenges from states with laws that protect transgender student athlete participation.

Trump's executive order marked a move toward his promise to prohibit transgender athletes from competing in women's school sports, but formal changes to Title IX regulations and active enforcement of the policy have yet to come. We rate this promise In the Works.