Washington, Feb 7, (dpa/GNA) – US President, Donald Trump, on Wednesday signed an executive order that is intended to exclude transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports, especially in public schools and colleges.
“With this executive order, the war on women’s sports is over,” Trump declared at the White House, criticizing what he called the “militant transgender ideology” of the “radical left,” as he has often done before.
Educational institutions face the withdrawal of federal funding, if they allow transgender athletes to compete on teams that do not match the sex they were assigned at birth.
Schools that allow trans people access to changing rooms, that do not match the sex they were assigned at birth could also be sanctioned.
In the US, schools and colleges play a central role, as the main pathway into professional sports.
The executive order also tasks US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, with getting the International Olympic Committee to amend “the standards governing Olympic sporting events, to promote fairness, safety, and the best interests of female athletes” using “all appropriate and available measures.”
The next Summer Olympics will be held in Los Angeles in 2028.
The new decree is part of a series of similar measures by the Trump administration, including restrictions on transgender individuals serving in the US military.
As with previous executive orders, it is expected that they will be fought in the courts. Opponents of the measure argue that so far, there is little evidence that transgender athletes dominate women’s sports on a large scale.
Critics warn that such measures are more likely to fuel political polarization, rather than create fair solutions in sport. There is also concern that the exclusion of transgender youth from sport could endanger their mental health.
Although the US president has a degree of authority by decree, his orders must not violate existing laws or the US constitution. If they exceed legal limits or are deemed discriminatory, courts could overturn them.
GNA