President Trump’s latest executive order bans trans-identifying males from female sports in federally funded institutions “as a matter of safety, fairness, dignity, and truth.”
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order barring trans-identifying males from competing in women’s athletics and warning non-complying educational programs will be stripped of taxpayer funding.
“In recent years, many educational institutions and athletic associations have allowed men to compete in women’s sports,” reads the executive order, titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.” “This is demeaning, unfair, and dangerous to women and girls, and denies women and girls the equal opportunity to participate and excel in competitive sports.”
The signing ceremony took place at the White House on Wednesday, with a room of government officials, women’s rights advocates, and female athletes, including young children.
“The war on women’s sports is over. Should have been done long ago,” Trump remarked at the event.
In a tender moment, the President also told the crowd of young female athletes surrounding him, “You know, if you’d like to gather around me, I think I’m going to be okay. Come on,” going on to say, “Secret Service is worried about them? If we have to worry about them, we have big problems.”
Absolutely love this.
He's so genuine.
"If you'd like to gather around me, I think I'm going to be okay. Secret Service is worried about them?" pic.twitter.com/5iNugErNge
— Sara Rose 🇺🇸🌹 (@saras76) February 5, 2025
The executive order comes on the heels of a major vote in the U.S. House of Representatives, in which the House moved forward legislation requiring schools to recognize sex based on biology and genetics for the purposes of athletics. This legislation, introduced by prime sponsor Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) would serve to codify the provisions of Trump’s executive order into law.
The bill, known as the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2025, received a vote of 218-206, with two Democrat members joining the Republican majority. Rep. Daniel Meuser was the only House member from Pennsylvania to co-sponsor the bill, though he was joined in his affirmative vote by the remaining nine Republican members of the Pennsylvania delegation to the House.
When asked about his vote by LancasterOnline, Rep. Lloyd Smucker concisely replied, “I don’t think biological men should compete in women’s sports.” Hempfield School District, which resides in Smucker’s legislative District 11, became the first in Pennsylvania to protect girls’ sports teams from male participation in 2022.
The Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act faces an uncertain future as it progresses to the Senate; the legislation will require the support of the entire Republican caucus and seven members of the Democratic caucus in order to bypass an anticipated filibuster.
Meanwhile, Pennsylvania continues its legacy as a hotbed of gender-related controversy. The Trump administration’s Department of Education announced Thursday it will investigate the University of Pennsylvania for alleged civil rights violations against female athletes.
The concern over Title IX violations at UPenn stems from the university’s decision to permit trans-identifying male athlete Lia Thomas to compete on the women’s swimming team, leading to him ultimately winning a Division I title in 2022.
“I’m deeply grateful to the Department of Education for addressing Title IX violations concerning female athletes with such seriousness,” stated Paula Scanlan, a former University of Pennsylvania Women’s Swimming and Diving athlete, in a DOE press release.
“As a former University of Pennsylvania swimmer who was forced to compete against and share a locker room with a male athlete, I look forward to them holding accountable the higher education institutions that promoted this.”
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