President Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order prohibiting men from participating in women's sports, delivering on a campaign promise that helped propel him back to the White House.

"It's just all about common sense," Trump said moments before signing the order in front of dozens of female athletes.

"Under the Trump administration, we will defend the proud tradition of female athletes, and we will not allow men to beat up, injure, and cheat our women and our girls," he said. "From now on, women's sports will be only for women."

The order touches on one of the most controversial issues surrounding the transgender debate.

Earlier in the day, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt revealed details of the executive order, saying it "upholds the promise of Title IX," the 1972 law that prohibits discrimination based on sex in education programs and activities.

Title IX significantly reshaped women's sports at the high school and collegiate levels by ensuring equal opportunities. However, the Biden administration expanded the law's interpretation, defining "sex" to include gender identity. The executive order also empowers the federal government to take action against schools that permit males to compete against women or access women's locker rooms, Leavitt said.

Supporters of Trump's executive order said it is needed for ensuring fairness and safety.

In Connecticut, two high school athletes who were biologically male but who identified as female won a total of 15 state track championships in the girl's division between 2017 and 2019. In North Carolina, a high-speed volleyball spike by a biological male who identifies as female injured a girl on the opposing team during a 2023 high school game. That girl later testified in front of North Carolina state legislators, urging action on the issue.

On the collegiate level, multiple volleyball teams forfeited their matches last fall rather than face San Jose State, which included a biological male who identifies as female and who competed on the women's team. The individual was a standout player.

The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill this month prohibiting biological males from playing on women's teams. That bill is now before the Senate.

Leavitt urged the Senate to act on the bill, emphasizing that congressional action is needed to ensure lasting change. Executive orders can be reversed by a future president.

"It's incredibly important that Congress immediately acts on this priority," Leavitt said. "I think the president is really setting the tone, making this a very immediate priority for this administration, just as he promised on the campaign trail."

The executive order, Leavitt said, also "calls for the convening of private sporting bodies in the White House."

"We want them to come to this campus so the president can hear in person the stories of female athletes who have suffered lifelong injuries, who have been silenced and forced to shower with men and compete with men on athletic fields across the country," she said.

A New York Times/Ipsos survey released this year found that 79 percent of Americans, including 94 percent of Republicans and 67 percent of Democrats, oppose allowing men in women's sports. The survey asked: "Thinking about transgender female athletes -- meaning athletes who were male at birth but who currently identify as female -- do you think they should or should not be allowed to compete in women's sports?"

In 2019, three women with successful athletic careers -- Doriane Coleman, Martina Navratilova and Sanya Richards-Ross -- penned a Washington Post column opposing males in female sports.

"The evidence is unequivocal that starting in puberty, in every sport except sailing, shooting, and riding, there will always be significant numbers of boys and men who would beat the best girls and women in head-to-head competition. Claims to the contrary are simply a denial of science," they wrote. "Team USA sprinter Allyson Felix has the most World Championship medals in history, male or female, and is tied with Usain Bolt for the most World Championship golds. Her lifetime best in the 400 meters is 49.26 seconds. In 2018 alone, 275 high school boys ran faster on 783 occasions."

Source