Transgender girls and women can no longer participate on sports teams according to their gender identity, says President Donald Trump’s latest executive order aimed at transgender athletes.
During a signing ceremony on Wednesday, Trump announced that “there will be no federal funding” for K12 schools that violate Title IX regulations.
“With my action this afternoon, we are putting every school receiving taxpayer dollars on notice that if you let men take over women’s sports teams or invade your locker rooms, you will be investigated for Title IX and risk your federal funding,” he said.
A fact sheet about the executive order also requires the Department of Justice to adhere to the elimination of the Biden Administration’s “illegal” Title IX rewrite “that would have dissolved single-sex spaces and opportunities.”
It’s part of an ongoing conversation that has become a significant political flashpoint. A 2023 Gallup poll revealed that the majority of Americans (69%) believe that transgender athletes should only be allowed to compete on sports teams that align with their birth-given gender, a 7% increase from 2021’s figures.
Similarly, fewer Americans endorse transgender athletes being able to play on teams that match their gender identity (26%) down from 34% in 2021.
“The shift toward greater public opposition to transgender athletes competing on the basis of their current gender identity has occurred at the same time that more U.S. adults say they know a transgender person,” the analysis reads.
The survey also asked Americans about their general views on being transgender. A majority (55%) consider “changing one’s gender” to be more “morally wrong,” while 43% say it is “morally acceptable.”
Response from lawmakers
Conservative lawmakers are in favor of Wednesday’s executive order barring transgender athletes from women’s sports, arguing that fairness has been restored.
“Finally, we have a president that recognizes the importance of safeguarding opportunities for female athletes to compete safely and fairly,” said Michigan Rep. Tim Walberg, chairman of the House Committee on Education and Workforce in a public statement. “Today’s executive order ensures that women and girls won’t be pushed to the sidelines in their own sports.”
Minnesota Rep. Leigh Finke, the first openly transgender person to serve in the state Legislature, told Minnesota Now that the executive order could negatively impact the trans community.
“We are separating them out,” she told Minnesota Now. “We are taking trans people out of society, we are removing them from our data from the CDC and now, we are saying these young people who are playing sports should be removed as well.”
More from DA: New Title IX protections are wiped out by Trump administration
