Donald Trump has declared the “war” on women athletes to be over. The President is not only making headlines for the law he passed but also for the comment he passed after.
The President officially signed off on the law that will ban transgender women from participating in female categories of sport hereon. The law was praised by the Republicans and deemed to be fair to women athletes.
On the other hand, several LGBT advocacy and human rights organizations are vocalizing their disapproval towards the law. According to the said organizations, the order is a clear move of discrimination.
US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order banning trans women from female sports, declaring that ‘the war on women’s sports is over’ pic.twitter.com/UYRhtlZ3Qz
— Sky News (@SkyNews) February 5, 2025
The law will be set in motion effective immediately. Changes will be seen in high schools, universities and grassroots sports. This law isn’t the first to ban trans women from competing in women’s categories. According to BBC, several sporting governing bodies in the sports of swimming, golf and athletics have banned trans women who have passed male puberty to compete in elite levels.
A joke that Trump made when he signed the bill to pass has caught people’s attention. Before he signed the bill, he asked the young girls sitting in the audience if they would like to gather around him.
“The Secret Service is worried about them?” the president questioned as the children formed a group around him. He also jokingly added about the fact that if his security team was worried about a group of innocent children they had “big problems.”
“With this executive order, the war on women’s sports is over,” Trump declared as he signed the bill. The Republican has been vocal about this decision throughout his Presidential campaign. After winning the election in November, he shared that he planned to “keep men out of women’s sports.”
White House Officials have previously stated that the newly formed law has “nothing to do with” the transgender community. The officials reasoned that the driving force behind the decision was the welfare of women athletes.
The Trump administration also plans to repeal the guidelines regarding Title IX that were set by the Biden government. The US Department of Education website describes Title IX’s aim as to protect “people from discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance.”
Under the Biden government’s guidelines, it was mandatory to give transgender women access to women’s sports teams and sex-segregated facilities. The latter faced a lot of backlash when the guidelines were being discussed.
President Donald Trump says he will deny visas for transgender Olympic athletes wanting to participate in female competition at LA 2028 Games.
Later signed an executive order banning trans athletes from participating in women’s & girls’ sports in the US https://t.co/jSi31xlRq8 pic.twitter.com/vzm5ufOrKB— Dan Roan (@danroan) February 5, 2025
The new order passed by Trump will forbid transgender women to partake in women’s sports teams and even use women’s washrooms in educational institutions.
The President warned institutions about the new law being strictly enforced. “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 claimed.
He also previously claimed that his administration “will not stand by and watch men beat and batter female athletes.” Another decision that the Republican is enforcing is denying visas for transgender athletes looking forward to competing in the 2028 Olympics that are set to take place in Los Angeles.
