February 5, 2025 – coinciding with women and girls of sports Day – Donald Trump signed a executive decree Unless Trans athletes participate in female sports. The movement marked another Aggressive quarter of work From his legislative program, while he doubled on anti-trans rhetoric, in which he promised to eliminate what he calls “transgender madness”.
The next day, the main management organization of College Sports, the NCAA, said that only women assigned at birth Would be able to participate under his umbrella. The organization oversees more than 500,000 athletes. Last year, the president of NCAA, Charlie Baker, said that he only knew 10 transgender athletes who participated in the organization.
For many transgender athletes who aspire to become professional or qualify for events such as the Olympic Games, Trump’s Decree and NCAA’s decision, pose a considerable obstacle, stop their ability to pursue their careers and participate in Sports. We spoke to athletes who participated in Ncaa On the way in which the prohibition affected them.
Taylor Rey Narvasa, former NCAA volleyball player at Washington University, and current member of the North American Gay Volleyball Association
I was devastated. We all knew that it was going to happen – it was not necessarily a surprise – but there is a difference between the anticipated sorrow and the current grief. It made me feel horrible, knowing that my identity and my existence are debated every day, rhetoric is only intensifying.
I have always been an ardent defender, openly documenting my transition on social networks. I understand why a lot of people would like to move away, but for me it pushes me to be even more visible. Yesterday, I wore my trans pride sweater in a tournament in the rural regions of Washington because I refuse to be silent or make myself smaller. The purpose of these attacks is to have trans people shrinking. This is why I think you have to take up more space when I have the capacity. But I would say that my capacity has decreased – it is carrying me. I must be more intentional about the place where I invest my emotional energy, but in the end, we do our best.
I consider myself a strong person, but even for me, it’s incredibly difficult. I cannot imagine what it is for children today – children in primary school and college who just want to practice their sport. I grew up in a conservative and white predominance community, always looking for belonging, and sport gave me this. During this far from people is devastating.
And the fact that this only targets trans women – and not trans men – was a red flag. The NCAA had guiding bodies with rules in place, as requiring hormone treatment during an adjustment period. These regulations operated. But by prohibiting trans athletes while also Cut access to health careThe objective is clearly to erase trans people from all angles. People reject him saying: “It’s just sport.” But for so many people, it is their livelihood, their escape, their mental health. Being on a field with teammates who tell you is to save lives for some.
For me, volleyball saved my life. I would not be here without the chosen family that I found in sport, without having this space to exist without the weight of the outside world. But now they eliminated access to health care and sports. And no one is really Attack the real threats to female sports: lack of funding, lack of access, predatory coaches. It was never a question of protecting women.
Meghan Alexandra Cortez, former NCAA swimmer at Ramapo College of New Jersey
Trump did exactly what he said. I knew it was going. It’s just unhappy. I think it was (the president of the NCAA) who mentioned the number of trans athletes – (around) 10. I was one of them at the time because they used the data of Last year. I barely known other trans athletes. I had heard of it, but I was in contact with anyone. There was no one who crosses this experience with me. You are completely isolated.
This outrage, from my experience, does not exist. When you really ask swimmers – those directly affected – nine times out of 10, no one cares. I did not start hormone therapy before summer before my junior year. So when I trained in a swimsuit for women, my body became more feminine. This year was the most difficult because I remembered the speed at which I was in high school and I felt the difference. My speed and energy had changed as my biochemistry and body mass moved. During my last year, I was finally eligible to change teams under the criteria of the NCAA – a year of hormones and a specific level of testosterone, which varies according to division and sport.
I saw what happened to (NCAA swimmer) Lia Thomas And felt something disturbing. She didn’t deserve it – she just tried to be herself. It weighed me while I was doing a hormoneally transition, and I feared that my success would not be attributed to my hard work or to my athletics, but simply to be trans.
During my last year, I knew that something could happen. More people – Like (swimmer) Riley Gaines And the conservative media – get married out of fear. During my first meeting, I was nervous, but nothing happened. It reassured me until mid-season. This is where I blown in the mediaAll because of Riley Gaines and others upset that I broke a school record of 0.6 seconds.
The competition again (after Trump’s order) did not even go through my mind – not only because of social and legal barriers, but because I have reached a physical limit. Even if I could continue, I would hesitate. It’s not my time. If anything, I would wait three or four years before reconsidering. But honestly, it is not worth it. It is not a question of letting them win or not to take a stand – I refuse to let them transform into a show for their messaging and their propaganda.
Yes, it is regrettable that I can no longer compete at this level. What hurts the most is that the other Trans athletes will not have this chance. It is a choice that I thought I should make when I planned to go out. I chose my sport, and for a while, it broke me – I thought I could never be who I wanted to be. When I realized that I did not have to make this choice, I only felt joy. My most beautiful swimming memories come from moments when I could be myself by doing what I liked. Now others will not be able to experience this.
Mayumi Berry, former runner athlete of Louisiana Tech University and the University of Northern Texas
I stopped running because I got to a point where I was tired of being unhappy. I directed the male track – complete decorations, hair, everything. Outside the track, I lived my life as a woman, but I could no longer be myself. It was then that I started the medical transition. To run in a female team as a trans woman, I remember the requirements – you had to undergo surgery, your hormones had to be at a certain level and you had to pass for a certain age. At Louisiana Tech, there were several conflicts around my sex and my expression. I received a death threat from two teammates. The school has managed it well, but they never renewed my scholarship.
People always think that even if you are trans, the so-called male body is more powerful and capable of doing more harm. But we know that hormones make your body less capable when the male is transitioned to women. All my career on track, I dreamed of going to the Olympic Games. I would not have won the Olympic Games, but I would have qualified myself if I had been able to run with people who looked like me. Each athlete dreams of being recognized, of being the best. And I could have been up there with the best if (the Trump administration) allowed me to compete. This is part of the reason I didn’t want to run anymore. I abandoned this dream. It’s fun to dream, but I’m not going to injure myself by wanting something I will never have.
I was the only NCAA trans person to have run a track that I have ever met or seen – on the side of men or women. There are not even enough figures for people to protest. The track community would not care (to protest against support for trans athletes). The only people who would be those directly affected. With hindsight, when I received so much hatred, I think that the dream of the Olympic Games made me move forward. The simple fact of knowing that I was born to be an athlete made him feel the trouble.