On February 5, 2025, on National Girls and Women in Sports Day, President Trump is expected to sign an Executive Order called, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.” It is anticipated that there will be a signing ceremony with athletes, coaches, and advocates in attendance.
This Executive Order will set forth mandates on sex and sports policy. It will also direct federal agencies, including the DOJ, to interpret Title IX rules as prohibiting participation of transgender girls and women in female sports. It is expected to include language for immediate enforcement. This will include schools and athletic associations that deny women single-sex sports and locker rooms. It will also direct state attorneys general to identify best practices for enforcement.
The Executive Order is designed to overturn Biden administration policies requiring schools and athletic organizations to treat gender identity and sex as equivalent. As such requirements have been deemed unnecessary in at least one Court opinion, the Executive Order would explicitly ban such requirements.
The Trump administration has an expectation that various sports bodies, such as the NCAA, will modify their rules in accordance with this Executive Order. To that end, NCAA President Charlie Baker has previously stated to Republican Senators in December 2024 that the NCAA will follow federal law and noted that clarity on the issue would be helpful.
Failure to comply could significantly impact educational institutions. The White House has already warned that institutions could not only lose federal funding but also face legal action. The position of the White House is that since there is a private right of action in Title IX if schools are violating the law, female students could file lawsuits. This would be separate and apart from any DOJ action and potentially expose institutions to millions of dollars of liability.
This Executive Order appears to be consistent with the Trump administration’s other orders, including one proclaiming the government will only recognize two sexes, male and female, and that those sexes are not changeable.
As each administration has the authority to issue its own interpretation of Title IX legislation, it is unknown how this might play out in the courts moving forward.
