XPost: alt.transgendered, or.politics, sac.politics
XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, talk.politics.guns
Donald Trump, the candidate, pledged to get “transgender insanity the
hell out of our schools” and “keep men out of women’s sports.”
Donald Trump, the president, wasted little time delivering on his
promise to address a topic that seemed to resonate across party lines.
Trump issued an executive order on the day his second term began that
called for “restoring biological truth to the federal government” and signed another on Wednesday titled “ Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.
“
The federal government now has wide latitude across multiple agencies to penalize federally funded entities that “deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities.”
“The war on women’s sports is over,” Trump declared.
Probably not. Legal challenges like the ones against other executive
orders aimed at transgender people are likely and on Wednesday, the
Trump administration sued Maine for not complying with the government’s
push to ban transgender athletes in girls and women’s sports.
What is in the executive order?
The biggest takeaway is that the Trump administration has empowered the
federal government to take aggressive steps to go after entities — be
they a school or an athletic association and now a state — that do not comply. Federal funding, and potentially grants to educational programs,
could be pulled.
The threshold for noncompliance: Any entity that denies “female students
an equal opportunity to participate in sports and athletic events by
requiring them, in the women’s category, to compete with or against or
to appear unclothed before males.”
The Education Department announced less than 24 hours after the order’s signing that it was investigating San Jose State University, the
University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Interscholastic
Athletic Association, all of which have had Title IX violations reported against them for allowing transgender athletes to compete. It also
investigated Maine and last week referred the case to the Justice
Department.
Determining ‘sex’ vs. ‘gender,’ and how will that affect Title IX? Every administration has the authority to issue its own interpretations
of the landmark legislation best known for its role in ensuring gender
equity in athletics and preventing sexual harassment on campuses.
Given the push-pull of how recent presidencies view Title IX, it has
created a whiplash effect.
Joe Biden signed an executive order on his first day in office that
interpreted sex as “gender identity” under Title IX, a move that
protected transgender athletes from being discriminated against if they
wanted to participate in a sport that aligned with their gender
identity, not their sex assigned at birth.
Yet it took more than three years for Title IX regulations saying that
to be finalized. And when they were, they lacked specifics sports and
were put on hold by courts.
Trump’s order explicitly states that sex means the “immutable biological classification as either male or female.” ‘Sex’ is not a synonym for and does not include the concept of “gender identity.” The order adds that “sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality.”
The decision marks a significant shift in the way Title IX is viewed and
more explicitly, how it will be enforced.
How many transgender athletes will be affected?
That number is hard to pin down.
The NCAA, for example, does not track data on transgender athletes among
the 544,000 currently competing on 19,000 teams at various levels across
the country, though NCAA President Charlie Baker testified in Congress
in December that he was aware of fewer than 10 active NCAA athletes who identified as transgender.
A 2019 survey of high school students by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) noted just 5% of respondents said they
participated in a sport that aligned with their gender identity. A 2022
report by the Williams Institute estimated about 300,000 high school-age students (ages 13-17) identified as transgender. How many of those young
people participate in sports is unknown, but it is likely a tiny
fraction.
Does the order have actual teeth?
The reach of Title IX extends far beyond the participation of
transgender athletes. Noncompliance is believed to be widespread.
The Women’s Sports Foundation noted in a 2022 report that there were
still “gross gender inequities” across all college divisions and that
there was “cause for concern about widespread Title IX noncompliance in
high school and college and university athletic programs” even before
the COVID-19 pandemic made women’s sports even more vulnerable.
Yet to date no school at any level has had its federal funding rescinded
for not meeting Title IX standards that require institutions to provide
women with equal access and treatment, said Cheryl Cooky, a professor at
Purdue University who studies the intersection of gender, sports, media
and culture. She wondered where all this support for women’s sports in general — and not on this issue specifically — has been for the last
five decades.
“All of these other inequalities have existed and now you’re in a
position of power to address those opportunities and this is what you’re addressing?” Cooky said earlier this year. “The fact that this is the
issue that the administration is concerned about speaks volumes in terms
of how we value women in this society and how we value women’s sports in
this society.”
Yet given Trump’s unpredictable approach to governing, precedent and
history might not apply.
How will this work at the state level?
About half the states have already enacted legislation that effectively
bars transgender athletes from competing in the category that aligns
with their gender identity. The AP reported in 2021 that in many cases,
states introducing a ban on transgender athletes could not cite
instances where their participation was an issue.
Some states are already planning to challenge the Trump order in court. Connecticut Attorney General William Tong called the order “mean
spirited and unlawful” and called for those opposed to the order to
“stand together and fight back.”
What also remains unclear is whether a federal agency can go after
specific organizations — like state high school sports associations —
that do not receive money directly from the federal government.
How will this affect college sports?
The NCAA Board of Governors moved quickly, amending its transgender participation policy to limit competition in women’s sports to athletes assigned female at birth. The NCAA has more than 500,000 athletes
competing for some 1,100 schools.
“We strongly believe that clear, consistent, and uniform eligibility standards would best serve today’s student-athletes instead of a
patchwork of conflicting state laws and court decisions,” Baker said
then. “To that end, President Trump’s order provides a clear, national standard.”
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, the governing
body for more than 200 small schools across the country, voted
unanimously in 2023 to effectively ban transgender athletes from
competing in women’s sports.
What about the Olympics?
On a move most saw coming once Trump won a second term, his
administration still managed to sneak in a curveball.
The order calls for the office of the secretary of state to use “all appropriate and available measures” in hopes of having the International Olympic Committee come up with a uniform transgender policy. The
organization has passed the buck for years, deferring to the
international federations for each sport.
Kirsty Coventry, the sports minister of Zimbabwe, has replaced Thomas
Bach as IOC president. A two-time Olympic champion swimmer, she told the
BBC before her election that it is the IOC’s duty to ensure equal
opportunity and fairness.
“I don’t believe we can do that based off of the medical and science research that I’ve seen if we add or allow for transgender women to
compete in the female category right now,” she said then. “It is very
clear that transgender women are more able in the female category, and
can take away opportunities that should be equal for women.”
https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-politics-and-policy/trump-kept-promise-order-ban-trans-female-athletes-court-fights-arrive-rcna201761
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