President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday that is aimed at prohibiting people who were assigned male at birth from participating in women’s sports.
"With this executive order, the war on women's sports is over," Trump said in front of a group of supporters at the White House.
The executive order, entitled "Keeping Them Out of Women’s Sports," instructs the Department of Justice to enforce a ban on those assigned male at birth from competing in female sports categories.
Schools that fail to comply with the order may face the loss of federal funding and potential legal action, as Title IX prohibits sex-based discrimination in federally funded education programs, including sports.
"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," NCAA President Charlie Baker said in a statement on the new order. "The NCAA Board of Governors is reviewing the executive order and will take necessary steps to align NCAA policy in the coming days, subject to further guidance from the administration."
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The order may be seen as an attack on transgender rights — as it could restrict transgender individuals from competing in certain leagues and sports teams.
"Rather than protecting women and girls, sports bans harm any of us who do not conform to someone else’s idea of what a woman or girl should look, dress, or act like," said Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center. "Policymakers should instead focus on ending the enormous disparity that remains in sports opportunities for women and girls and equally funding women’s and girls’ teams."
During a congressional hearing in December, NCAA President Baker stated that out of more than 510,000 athletes competing in NCAA sports, fewer than 10 are transgender.
"He [Trump] does expect the Olympic Committee and the NCAA to no longer allow men to compete in women's sports," said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
In reference to the 2028 Olympics, which will be held in the U.S., Trump said he would be directing Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem to ban transgender athletes from entering the United States to compete in the Olympics.
"To deny any and all visa applications made by men attempting to fraudulently enter the United States while identifying themselves as women athletes try and get into the Games," he said.
Wednesday's action is seen as a promise kept by supporters of President Trump. He campaigned on banning men in women's sports.
