Trump signs order seeking to ban transgender athletes from women’s sports
The US president has taken aim at trans rights, declaring on his first day in office that sex is an ‘immutable biological reality’
US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday attempting to exclude transgender girls and women from female sports, a directive that supporters say will restore fairness but critics say infringes on the rights of a tiny minority of athletes.
The order directs the US Department of Justice to ban transgender girls and women from taking part in female school sports under Trump’s interpretation of Title IX, a law against sex discrimination in education.
“The war on women’s sports is over,” Trump said at a signing ceremony with dozens of women and girls aligned behind him.
“My administration will not stand by and watch men beat and batter female athletes.”
The order, which is likely to face legal challenges, calls for “immediate enforcement” nationwide. It threatens to cut off federal funding for any school that allows transgender women or girls to compete in female-designated sporting competitions.
The order would affect only a small number of athletes. The president of the National Collegiate Athletics Association told a Senate panel in December he was aware of fewer than 10 transgender athletes among the 520,000 competing at 1,100 member schools.