Trump signs executive order banning transgender women from women's sports.
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Trump signs executive order banning transgender athletes from women's sports
US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order banning transgender women from women's sports.
The order provides guidelines, regulations and legal interpretations and will require the Department of Education to investigate high schools that do not comply with the rules.
Republicans say it restores equity in sports, but LGBT and human rights groups have called the measure discriminatory.
The order, which takes effect immediately, mainly covers high schools, universities and grassroots sports.
A number of sports governing bodies, including swimming, athletics and golf, have banned transgender women from competing in the women's category at the elite level if they have passed male puberty. Transgender women banned from top golf tournaments
World Athletics bans transgender women
The latest order allows the Education Department to investigate how schools are implementing Title IX, a U.S. law that prohibits sex discrimination in federally funded educational programs, according to White House officials who briefed reporters Wednesday morning.
An administration official said the executive order would reverse the Biden administration's position, which in April of last year said LGBT students would be protected by federal law, although it did not provide specific guidance for transgender athletes.
"If you allow men to take over women's sports teams or invade your locker rooms, you will be investigated for a violation of Title IX and risk losing your federal funding," Trump said.
Additionally, the White House plans to bring sports organizations — such as the National Collegiate Athletic Association, or NCAA — to the White House to meet with female athletes and their parents to discuss their concerns.
The official who discussed the order said the United States will do everything in its power to prevent transgender athletes from competing against women in International Olympic Committee events held on American soil. President Trump clarified that the executive order will include the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
He said he would deny visas to transgender Olympic athletes who attempt to travel to the United States to compete in the Los Angeles Games.
Before signing the executive order, Trump declared that "the war on women's sports is over," saying that during the Los Angeles Games, "my administration will not stand by and watch men beat and abuse female athletes."
He said he would instruct the Secretary of Homeland Security "to deny any visa applications made by men who attempt to fraudulently enter the United States by identifying themselves as female athletes..."
The IOC has been contacted for comment.
White House officials have described the policies as widely popular with Americans and essential to ensuring "equity" for women in sports, as well as safety.
In a statement, Human Rights Campaign president Kelley Robinson said the executive order "opens young people up to harassment and discrimination, encouraging people to question the gender of children who don't fit a narrow view of how they should dress or present themselves." "For many students, sports are a way to find a place to fit in," Robinson added. "No party politics are making life difficult for them."
According to a study by the UCLA Williams Institute, less than 1% of the population over the age of 13 in the United States is transgender, and the number of people participating in sports is even lower.
On his first day in office, on January 20, Trump signed a separate executive order requiring the federal government to officially define gender as male or female.
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