The equity of the New Hampshire in the law on female sports, which was promulgated in July, as well as the executive decree of Trump, “excludes, distinguishes and discriminates transgender and insinuated students that they do not deserve the same educational opportunities That all other students, ”Klementowicz said in a statement. During the first term of Trump, the Department of Education released Federal guidelines On how to implement the title IX, in particular on the question of sexual misconduct in schools. The rules have enabled students accused of misconduct of added protections, in particular the presumption that they are innocent throughout the disciplinary process and the right to provide all the evidence collected against them.
Biden administration has designed its own policies by interpreting “sex” in title IX as including “gender identity”, allowing the protection of transgender athletes who wanted to compete in sports aligned on their gender identity and not their sex attributed to birth.
Trump, however, warned that he would reverse once taking office. His decree Prohibit “gender ideology” explicitly declares that sex means “immutable biological classification as male or female” and “does not include the concept of” gender identity “.
For schools and colleges from kindergarten to the 12th year who do not adhere to the interpretation by the Trump administration of title IX standards, this could mean the loss of federal funding, including subsidies to their educational programs.
While so far, no school at any level has canceled its federal funding, the Department of Education has started to investigate the potential violations of civil rights linked to the Trump decree.
One day after his signature, the Department has announced requests at the State University of San Jose and the University of Pennsylvania as well as the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association.
The state of San Jose is the subject of an investigation for the participation of a player of the women’s volleyball team, although the school did not confirm that the team had a transgender athlete.
The journal of the University of Pennsylvania concerns Lia Thomas, a former student who in 2022 became the First trans to win A NCAA swimming championship. Thomas graduated in 2022, but his participation is the subject of a trial Tabled by several athletes last year And another this month by three former teammates pursuing the NCAA and others in order to have Thomas’ swimming records.
NCAA refused to comment, citing pending disputes, but said in a statement that it “will continue to promote title IX, to make unprecedented investments in female sports and to ensure fair competition in all NCAA championships “.
A day after Trump signed his decree, the president of the NCAA, Charlie Baker, announced that the association was Change your policy To allow only students assigned to the birth of participating in college competitions. He said in a press release that “uniform eligibility standards would best serve students-athletes today instead of a patchwork of conflict laws and decisions” and that the order “provides a clear national standard”.
At the national level, the number of trans athletes participating in university sports is relatively low. Although the exact number is unknown, Baker told Congress legislators in December that he was aware of less than 10 in the NCAA, which has more than 500,000 students-athletes.
On Wednesday, the Department of Education announced surveys on two other groups – the Minnesota State High School League and California Interscholastic Federation – alleging that the directing bodies of the state plan to violate the Trump’s decree.
“I remind these organizations that history does not turn with kindness of the entities and states which have actively opposed the application of federal laws on civil rights which protect women and girls against discrimination and harassment “Said Craig Trainor, acting deputy secretary of the department for civil rights, said in a press release.
The Minnesota State High School League, which allowed transgender students to compete in a team that aligns their gender identity since 2015, said in a press release He would cooperate with the investigation while asking for “the Clarification and Management” of the State Attorney General.
California Interscholastic Federation refused to comment on the outstanding investigations, but said that it did not collect data on transgender students.
Before Trump’s decree, more than half of the States had already put in place measures to prevent Trans athletes from playing in teams that align themselves with their gender identity. The courts have blocked prohibitions in four of the States: Arizona, Idaho, Utah and Virginia-Western.
Elsewhere, the debate continues.
In Indiana, a room education committee on Wednesday Advanced an invoice This prohibits transgender women to participate in university sports teams, similar to a ban on kindergarten sports in the 12th year.
In the end, all the Democrats except one of the Indiana Chamber Education Committee voted in favor of the prohibition of the college, but some of the party expressed their fight against the way in which support for the two Athletes who were assigned to birth and trans and trans women have become politicized, while the previous sporting sport of organizations like NCAA had been able to govern themselves.
“We don’t have to do it all,” said representative Ed Delaney, a democrat who voted for the bill. “It is excessive signaling and the signaling of virtue, and it is just a waste of time.”
Trump’s decree seems to have an influence beyond borders and school sports.
A week after his signing, World Athletics, the International Athletics Director, announced that he would recommend placing athletes assigned to birth which have higher testosterone levels under the same rules prohibiting transgender athletes in female categories.
Meanwhile, the International Boxing Association, a boxing body led by Russia which was banished from the Olympic Games, cited Trump’s order in a Announcement last week Saying that he would file criminal complaints against the International Olympic Committee for having authorized the boxers Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-Ting, who were assigned to a woman at birth and to identify themselves as women, to compete and win Gold medals at the Paris 2024 Games. Trump often hurt boxers.
During the signing ceremony of his decree of Trans sports executive, the president was frank on his intention to take his fight against Transgender sports participation in the Olympic Games. He said he wanted the state departments and internal security to examine policies concerning the admission of male athletes to the United States “seeking to participate in female sports” and in the IOC to “change everything that has to See with the Olympic Games and have to do with that absolutely ridiculous subject ”before the 2028 summer games in Los Angeles.
It remains extremely rare that openly transgender athletes compete in the Olympic Games.