On February 5, President Trump signed an executive order aiming to prohibit transgender girls and women from participating in girls’ and women’s sports and using women’s locker rooms. The order targets school athletics at the K-12 and college levels and professional athletic associations.
A new report from the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law analyzes the order and examines its potential impact on transgender youth, young adults, and professional athletes.
An estimated 300,000 youth aged 13 to 17 and about 400,000 young adults aged 18-24 identify as transgender in the United States. Many of them attend school or college and could be impacted by aspects of a ban on sports participation or locker room use.
The order directs the Department of Education to amend Title IX, which protects against sex discrimination in educational programs and activities receiving federal funding, to specify that women’s sports are reserved for cisgender women. It also threatens to withhold federal grants from non-compliant institutions. Additionally, the order pressures professional sports associations to adopt policies that exclude transgender girls and women from girls’ and women’s sports.
If implemented, the order would have the most significant impact on transgender girls and women in the 23 states and D.C. without an explicit ban on transgender sports participation. Approximately 182,000 transgender youth aged 13-17 live in these jurisdictions and face new uncertainty over sports participation as the federal government seeks to enforce the order. The order could also have consequences for the 117,000 trans youth aged 13-17 currently living in states with bans.
“Participation in sports is associated with numerous health benefits for children and adolescents, including higher self-esteem, lower depression levels, and, for LGBTQ youth, a stronger sense of belonging,” said study author Elana Redfield, Federal Policy Director at the Williams Institute. “Excluding transgender youth from participating in sports based on their gender identity not only denies them these benefits, but it could also lead to increased discrimination and harassment.”
President Trump may move swiftly to attempt to enforce the executive order, particularly as it applies to educational institutions receiving federal funding. However, several factors may hinder the order’s progress, including the limitations of the president’s power to act without Congress and pending court challenges to state-level sports bans.