- By Anushka Vats
- Thu, 06 Feb 2025 11:08 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
Former US President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order aimed at preventing transgender athletes from participating in girls' and women's sports unless they were assigned female at birth. The new directive also threatens to withhold federal funding from high schools and colleges that do not comply with the order.
“From now on, women’s sports will be only for women,” Trump declared in a speech from the White House East Room. “The war on women’s sports is over.”
The executive order, titled 'Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,' highlights concerns over the inclusion of transgender individuals in women’s athletic competitions. It argues that allowing men to compete in women’s sports is unfair, claiming it deprives women and girls of equal opportunities to participate in and excel at these activities.
The White House statement attached to the order criticises what it calls the “denial of fundamental biological truths” between the sexes, stating that it has resulted in women and girls being denied proper access to educational and sports facilities. It further claims that this has led to humiliation and a loss of privacy for women and girls, while undermining fairness and safety in competitive sports.
As part of the new policy, the US government will rescind federal funding from educational programs that do not ensure fair athletic opportunities for women. The statement strongly opposes male participation in women’s sports for reasons of safety, fairness, dignity, and truth.
This order follows an earlier executive action from January 20, which instructed the federal government to define sex strictly as male or female. It also directed changes to government-issued identification to reflect this definition.
In recent years, Trump and other conservative politicians have highlighted the issue of transgender athletes competing in women’s sports, making it a prominent topic during election cycles. So far, 25 US states have passed laws banning transgender athletes from competing in girls' sports at the high school and youth levels.
The administration also issued another controversial order earlier, prohibiting federal funding for medical procedures intended to transition a child's sex, citing concerns over the long-term impacts of such treatments.
