Feb. 5 (UPI) — President Donald Trump will sign an executive order Wednesday to limit competition by transgender athletes.
According to the White House press schedule, the Wednesday signing is referred to as the “No Men In Women’s Sports Executive Order.”
The order is intended to reverse the policy of the Biden administration, which considered banning transgender athletes a violation of Title IX The federal law. The law prohibits sex discrimination at educational institutions that receive federal funds.
Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBTQ advocacy organization in the United States, has opposed Trump’s action, saying, “While this order will target transgender youth specifically, blanket bans have negative impacts on all girls.”
The organization president, Kelley Robinson, said in a statement, “This order could expose young people to harassment and discrimination, emboldening people to question the gender of kids who don’t fit a narrow view of how they’re supposed to dress or look.
“And it comes at a time when the Trump administration continues to distract and divide the country, handing the keys to the federal government to unelected billionaires and refusing to address urgent issues that the country is facing.”
Trump’s order directs the Department of Justice to interpret Title IX as banning transgender girls and women athlete participation in female school sports. The order requires immediate enforcement against schools that allow transgender athletes in women sports.
The order views transgender athletic participation as denying “women single-sex sports and single-sex locker rooms.”
May Mailman, deputy assistant to the president and senior policy strategist, told ABC News that the administration is protecting women’s sports.
According to a 2023 Gallup poll, 70% of Americans responding to the poll said trans athletes should only be allowed on sports teams in line with birth gender.
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., said she opposes transgender athlete rights under Title IX.
“No amount of activism, corporate pressure, or lies can erase reality-men are biologically different from women,” Mace said on X.
She said the executive order “restores fairness, upholds Title IX’s original intent and defends the rights of female athletes.”
According to an October 2023 review of 2017 research published in the journal Sports Medicine, trans people appear to have no advantage in sports.
The White House expects the NCAA to align its rules with the new ban on trans athletes.
Last week, Trump signed an executive order to take away rights to gender-affirming care for people younger than 19.
