Transgender athlete’s participation in sports has gained state and federal attention. Most recently, in July 2025, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (“U.S.O.P.C.”) barred transgender women from competing in women’s sports due to an executive order issued by President Trump titled, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.” President Trump’s executive order states “educational institutions receiving Federal funds cannot deny women an equal opportunity to participate in sports.”[1] The executive order states that the United States will “rescind all funds from educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities, which results in the endangerment, humiliation, and silencing of women and girls . . . .”[2]
U.S.O.P.C. confirmed the change in policy through updating their website and sending a letter to national sport governing bodies.[3] U.S.O.P.C.’s step to bar transgender women follows a similar action taken by the NCAA earlier this year, which limits competition in women’s sports to athletes assigned female at birth.[4] U.S.O.P.C.’s new policy means that the around 50 national governing bodies of sports federations in the United States, who oversees events in Olympic sports, must follow the U.S.O.P.C’s lead. “As a federally chartered organization, we have an obligation to comply with federal expectations,” U.S.O.P.C. CEO Sarah Hirshland and president Gene Sykes wrote in a letter. “Our revised policy emphasizes the importance of ensuring fair and safe competition environments for women. All National Governing Bodies are required to update their applicable policies in alignment.”
U.S.A. fencing changed its policy effective August 1 for transgender athletes, which now permits transgender women to compete, but only in the men’s category. Nonbinary athletes, transgender men, and intersex athletes are limited to competing in the men’s category under the new U.S.A. fencing policy. U.S.A. Swimming, however, has not yet issued an updated policy. It is unclear, however, how the U.S.O.P.C. changes will unfold in every sport and state.
The National Women’s Law Center put out a statement condemning the change in policy. “By giving into the political demands, the USPOC is sacrificing the needs and safety of its own athletes,” said that organization’s president and CEO, Fatima Goss Graves.
[1] The White House, Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports, (Feb. 5, 2025), available at: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/keeping-men-out-of-womens-sports/.
[2] Id.
[3] U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee Policy, available at: https://assets.contentstack.io/v3/assets/blt9e58afd92a18a0fc/bltf456568858cc9c12/USOPC_Athlete_Safety_Policy.pdf.
[4] Associated Press, NCAA bars transgender athletes from women’s sports after Trump order, (Feb. 7, 2025), available at: https://www.npr.org/2025/02/07/g-s1-46938/ncaa-transgender-athletes-ban-trump