The NCAA announced Feb. 6 that transgender women would no longer be permitted in women’s college sports.
The announcement comes after President Donald Trump issued an executive order titled, “Keeping Men out of Women’s Sports,” Feb. 5. The order instructs agencies to withdraw federal funding from institutions that continue to allow transgender women to compete in women’s sports events.
“In recent years, many educational institutions and athletic associations have allowed men to compete in women’s sports,” the order states. “This is demeaning, unfair, and dangerous to women and girls, and denies women and girls the equal opportunity to participate and excel in competitive sports.”
The Trump administration cited Title IX as the reason behind the order, arguing that allowing transgender women into these spaces is a form of sex discrimination. Transgender rights were a key talking point in Trump’s campaign. In October, he said he planned to “get … transgender insanity the hell out of our schools” and “keep men out of women’s sports.”
The NCAA’s policy change applies to all of the organization’s sports, and it limits participation in women’s sports only to those assigned female at birth. Neither the order nor the NCAA guidelines apply the same rules to transgender men. The organization’s website still states, “regardless of sex assigned at birth or gender identity, a student-athlete may participate (practice and compete) with a men’s team, assuming they meet all other NCAA eligibility requirements.”
Last year, current and former college athletes brought a lawsuit against the NCAA in Georgia, following the same argument that allowing transgender athletes to compete violates Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, according to court documents.
Harvard Athletics originally came under fire in 2022 for allowing transgender swimmer Lia Thomas to compete in a women’s national swimming championship. Thomas represented the University of Pennsylvania, who had three athletes sue Harvard and the Ivy League for what they labeled as a violation of Title IX.
Harvard Athletics removed its Transgender Inclusion Policy from its website Feb. 5; however, “gender, gender identity, and gender expression” were all still mentioned in the department’s statement on equity, diversity, and inclusion.
As of Feb. 13, the UMass Boston Athletics website still mentions transgender athletes in its operations manual.
“UMass Boston Athletics prohibits discrimination based on sex, gender, gender identity and expression,” the manual states. “To that end, UMass Boston is committed to supporting and facilitating participation of transgender and nonbinary student-athletes.”
Currently, UMass Boston Athletics is affiliated with the NCAA as a Division III school.
“UMass Boston will adhere to all federal guidelines and rules recently adopted by the NCAA governing athletes’ participation in collegiate sports programs,” said DeWayne Lehman, Director of Communications at UMass Boston. “At the same time, we will remain true to our defining values and principles and do all we can to support any of our students who may be adversely affected by recent changes.”
The legality of the executive order, along with the NCAA announcement, will likely be questioned in the upcoming weeks as potential lawsuits from transgender athletes and civil rights groups are raised.
