Earlier this month, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to ban transgender women from competing in women’s sports.
“Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” will go into “immediate action, including enforcement actions, against schools and athletic associations,” according to the White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
This all started back in 2022 when University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines and UPenn swimmer Lia Thomas tied in the 200 freestyle final at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Women’s Championships.
Although both swimmers shared the fifth place podium, Thomas was the one who received the trophy while Gaines’ would be arriving in the mail. Thomas happens to be a transgender woman, which is what caused the outrage.
Gaines continues to make multiple Fox News appearances discussing how transgender women in sports are “unfair,” trying to milk out her five seconds of fame as much as possible. Which is further fueling this unfortunate war on women’s sports.
As a swimmer myself on a division III team, I have never cared about the gender or sex of my fellow teammates. At this level of college sports, I don’t see why it should be a big deal.
High schoolers are saying the same thing, with Parker Tirrell, 16, and Iris Turmelle, 15, deciding to sue New Hampshire education officials over the state law prohibiting them from participating in their public high school’s girls sports teams back in August of 2024. Instead of achieving justice, both girls were diagnosed with gender dysmorphia.
However, Trump’s new executive order has opened their case back up. On Wednesday, Feb. 12, the girl’s attorneys filed an amended complaint asking the court to expand the case nationally.
“The chance to try out for tennis means new teammates, new friends, and a sense of fun and belonging,” Turmelle said. “I just want the same opportunities as other girls at my school.”
From being a part of my high school’s softball and swim team, I can agree that many of us only participate for fun and to make friends. These young athletes can be missing out on chances of making friendships and having memorable teenage years to look back on.
Not only will transgender women no longer be able to play on women’s sports teams, but they can possibly have their records stripped away from them. The Department of Education’s Office of General Counsel sent a letter on Feb. 11 to both the NCAA and the National Federation of State High School Associations prompting them to restore their women athletes records, titles and more that were “misappropriated by biological males competing in female categories.”
Despite the letter, these records and recognitions were already made. It doesn’t make sense to reverse them now.
This executive order affects immigration as well. With the 2028 Olympic Games taking place in Los Angeles, Trump has stated that the Director of Homeland Security Kristi Noem will now “deny any and all visa applications made by men attempting to fraudulently enter the United States while identifying themselves as women athletes to try and get into the Games.”
This does not seem fair to the athletes who have made it this far. These innocent athletes are losing their chance to compete in the biggest sporting event in the world because of their gender and immigration status.
I happen to have a cousin who participated in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo for fencing. Although she did not receive a medal, she was just happy to be there, ending her career on a high note and an Instagram verification that makes for a cool story. You would think that is what every extremely skillful athlete dreams of, so why shouldn’t highly talented transgender athletes get to feel the same way?
Trump’s executive order banning transgender women from participating in women’s sports goes deeper than many people think. It gets to the point where we might ask ourselves, “Is this really worth all of the trouble?”
jcaramag@ramapo.edu
Featured photo courtesy of @liakthomas, Instagram
