New President Means New Mandates

President Donald Trump Signs Executive Order Banning Transgender Women in Women's Sports

Photo by Adam Cai on Unsplash

After a long and debate-filled year leading up to the 2024 presidential election, former president Donald Trump was reelected as the 47th president of the United States, following a four-year break. Before his win, Trump promised a variety of things would change in the United States, and on Wednesday, Feb. 5, his promise became reality.

Along with various other executive orders, President Trump signed an order preventing transgender women from competing in any female category of sports. In addition to the ban, The Department of Education is now legally required to investigate high schools that may not be complying with the rules of the order. A day after the order was signed, the governing body for US college sports, the NCAA, banned transgender women from competing in women's sports with their new policy stating only "student-athletes assigned female at birth" are allowed to participate in college competitions.

“I feel good about it [the new executive law],” junior Elise Carmichael said. “I think women’s sports should be dedicated to just women assigned this gender at birth.”

This law was titled “Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports” and was signed primarily for the safety of females in sports. Trump's thought on this was that “the war on women’s sports is over,” saying that women will no longer be injured by the men who join the sport. Trump also invited nearly one hundred young girls to the bill signing at the White House, telling them he was signing this particular order to allow them to compete in any sport they want and not have to worry about having to compete with men or boys in their sport and also having them not have to be worried about exposure during the sport they participate in.

“I think it is the right thing to do,” an anonymous Maclay student said. “Men shouldn’t be allowed to compete in women’s sports for safety issues.”

The issue of transgender women competing in women's sports grabbed headlines when collegiate swimmer Lia Thomas became the first transgender woman to win an NCAA swimming championship. Since the executive order, three female swimmers at the University of Pennsylvania are suing to have Thomas' record removed from the record books.

While the immediate impacts of the order on women's sports have already started to be felt, the full effects of the ban and policy change won't be fully realized by some female athletes who have had to compete against transgender women until the next sports season begins.