Trump signs executive order to ban transgender athletes from competing in women's sports

Donald Trump signed into law an executive order titled 'Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports.' The president made the signing at a White House event and was accompanied by many girl and women athletes, including swimmer Riley Gaines. The signing coincided with the annual National Girls and Women in Sports Day.

Specifically, the executive order prohibits men who identify as transgender from participating in women's sports at colleges and universities. Governors, senators and congressmen also joined the president at the signing, including Glenn Youngkin, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Tommy Tuberville, who recently introduced the Protecting Women in Olympic and Amateur Sports Act. This law is intended to codify the executive order signed by the president.

"We are putting every school receiving taxpayer dollars on notice: If you let men take over women's sports teams or invade your locker rooms, you will be investigated for violations of Title IX and risk your federal funding," Trump said in his pre-signing speech.

"Under the Trump administration, we will defend the proud tradition of female athletes. From now on, women's sports will be ONLY FOR WOMEN!" the president added.

In turn, Trump made a clear warning ahead of the Olympic Games that will take place in Los Angeles in July 2028.

"In Los Angeles in 2028, my administration will NOT stand by and watch men beat and batter female athletes ... And nobody's going to be able to do a damn thing about it because when I speak, we speak with authority," the president continued.

"Secretary Rubio is going to make clear to the International Olympic Committee... that America categorically REJECTS transgender lunacy," the Republican added.

Trans athletes banned from the Los Angeles Olympics

Trump's executive order also urges the Department of Homeland Security, led by Kristi Noem, to review the policy of granting visas to athletes. The goal would be to deny entry to "males falsely asserting they are females when entering the United States to compete in women’s sports."

The review should be completed before the next Olympic event, which will be hosted in California. "In Los Angeles in 2028, my administration will not stand by and watch men beat and batter female athletes," Trump said during the signing of the executive order. "It's going to end and it's ending right now."

During his presidential campaign, the Republican lashed out several times at the organizers of the Paris Games, criticizing both the controversial opening of the event and the participation in the boxing events of trans Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-Ting.

Allowing Khelif and Yu-Ting to participate is just the latest step in a long line of similar decisions, such as publishing a guide to covering the games with a queer perspective, from the sporting event's coordinator, the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The clash with the IOC will not occur only on American soil: the president ordered the State Department to "demand" changes within the institution, "to preserve single-sex sports, a necessity for safety and fairness."

"This war on conscience has not been won"

Hours before the White House signing, Riley Gaines met with congressional Republicans in the basement of the Capitol. The swimmer became an activist advocate for women's sports after competing against Lia Thomas in a case that drew national attention in 2022.

Nearly three years later, Gaines was greeted with applause from Republican lawmakers. The sportswoman took plenty of photos and later said a few words.

"This war on woke has not been won. In the next four years, God forbid AOC runs and wins, this executive order could be overturned just as easily as it was implemented," she said.

In turn, Gaines encouraged those present to codify protection for women's sports, precisely what the aforementioned legislation introduced by Senator Tuberville does.

"Men should not be competing in women’s sports at any level. We were all deeply disturbed last summer to see videos of men boxing against women in the Olympics. This is not only dangerous but it is incredibly unfair to the young women who have trained their whole lives to compete," the Alabama Republican said.