President Donald Trump signed a sweeping executive order Wednesday prohibiting transgender athletes from participating in women's sports categories, the Guardian reports.
"You've been waiting a long time for this. So have I. It's so ridiculous. But here we are. It's all about common sense," Trump said during the signing ceremony. "Under the Trump administration, 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's sports will be only for women."
The order, titled "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports," directs federal agencies, including the Department of Justice, to interpret Title IX rules as preventing transgender girls and women from competing in female sports categories. The announcement came on National Girls and Women in Sports Day.
The mandate requires immediate nationwide enforcement and authorizes state attorneys general to establish implementation practices. Schools permitting transgender women or girls to compete in female-designated sporting events risk losing federal funding under the new order. "With this executive order, the war on women's sports is over," Trump declared.
Trump cited multiple incidents during his remarks. "Men claiming to be girls have stolen more than 3,500 victories and invaded more than 11,000 competitions designed for women," Trump said. "Last year, a male cyclist posing as a woman competed in the 800 Mile Arizona Trail Race and obliterated the women's course record by nearly 5.5 hours. Think that's bad? The weightlifting's worse."
Trump highlighted the case of Peyton McNabb. "In high school, Peyton was a rock star athlete preparing for a future in college sports. But in one volleyball match, a much taller and stronger male spiked the ball right in her face, knocking her unconscious, partially paralyzing her right side and leaving her with a traumatic brain injury," Trump said, before turning to McNabb to say that it is "not going to happen anymore, Peyton. Are you okay? Are you good?" "I'm doing a lot better," McNabb replied.
Looking ahead to future sporting events, Trump addressed the 2028 Olympics: "In Los Angeles, in 2028, my administration will not stand by and watch men beat and batter female athletes."
The order follows several recent Trump administration actions regarding gender policy. In January, Trump directed the federal government to define sex as "only male or female" based on reproductive cells for all official documents. Last week, he signed an order prohibiting gender transition procedures for people under age 19.
The administration also issued a directive called "Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government," requiring removal of what it termed "radical gender ideology" from federal communications and policies.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is expected to modify its regulations to comply with the new federal mandate, though legal challenges to the executive order are anticipated.
