Trump upends transgender sports landscape with the stroke of a pen
Donald Trump’s campaign promise to block transgender women and girls from competing in female sports has opened up a slew of investigations of federally funded schools and athletics organizations since he signed an executive order this month.
President Donald Trump’s campaign promise to block transgender women and girls from competing in female sports has opened up a slew of investigations of federally funded schools and athletics organizations since he signed an executive order this month.
The Education Department has moved swiftly in another way, by urging associations overseeing high school and college competitions to vacate awards and records held by transgender women.
And the person picked to lead the department, former wrestling executive Linda McMahon, reaffirmed at her Senate confirmation hearing Thursday that “I do not believe biological boys should be allowed to compete with girls in sports.”
While for years, sports organizers and lawmakers have grappled with how to handle the issue of trans women and girls in female sports, advocates for trans athletes warn Trump’s stark reversal of the transgender sports landscape could be defined by a rollback of acceptance and sustained legal clashes. The order is even having an impact beyond student-athletes and U.S. borders.
The first of the litigation came Wednesday, when a federal judge in New Hampshire ruled that two transgender high school students can challenge the constitutionality of Trump’s order, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” as part of their lawsuit seeking to overturn a state law that prohibits transgender players on girls’ sports teams.
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