On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order that bars transgender women from competing in the women’s category. According to the order, “a student-athlete assigned male at birth may not compete on a women’s team” though biological females are still allowed to compete in the men’s category.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) implemented the policy on Friday effective immediately after the president signed the order a day before. NCAA President Charlie D. Baker said,
“We strongly believe that clear, consistent, and uniform eligibility standards would best serve today’s student-athletes instead of a patchwork of conflicting state laws and court decisions,” “ To that end, President Trump’s order provides a clear, national standard,” he added.
The organization consists of more than 100 schools with 50,000+ athletes. The policy now bans all transgender female athletes from competing in the women’s category regardless of whether they are undergoing hormone treatment.
The revised policy will allow athletes assigned male since birth to practice with women’s teams and receive medical care. An athlete of any sex or gender can practice with a men’s team if they meet all the other NCAA’s criteria. However, athletes assigned female at birth cannot compete on a women’s team though they can practice with them.
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The US President also said that he would be pushing the International Olympic Committee to change its tiles on Transgender athletes before the Games in 2028. He said before signing the order, “With this executive order the war on women’s sports is over,” Trump said before he signed the order at the White House”.
“We will defend the proud tradition of female athletes, and we will not allow men to beat up, injure and cheat our women and our girls. From now on, women sports will be only for women,”.
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He was applauded by Riley Gaines who was in a lawsuit against the NCAA over its decision to allow a trans woman undergoing hormone treatment in the NCAA Division I national championship in 2022.
“I can’t even begin to tell you how vindicating it feels knowing no girl will ever have to experience what my teammates and I did,” she said shortly after the news on her X account.
The decision isn’t completely accepted and criticized by Athlete Ally, who is an advocate of LGBTQ people in sports. Supporting her cause, she said, “We’ve known this day was likely to occur for a long time, as this administration continues to pursue simple solutions to complex issues, often resulting in animus towards the most marginalized communities in our country,”.
“Despite this executive order, we will continue to choose love, acceptance and curiosity with anyone interested in creating a future of sports where everyone belongs,” she added.
