Trump signs order banning transgender girls & women in female sports

United States president Donald Trump signed an order on Feb. 5 in a move to ban transgender girls and women from female sports.

The order would result in a government-enforced ban on the participation of trans girls and women in female school sports, Reuters reported.

"The war on women's sports is over," he said at a signing ceremony.

"My administration will not stand by and watch men beat and batter female athletes."

The order threatens to cut off federal funding for any school that contravenes the rule.

How does it work?

Essentially, the order directs federal agencies to interpret Title IX, a law against sex discrimination in education, as prohibiting trans girls and women from participating in female competitive sports.

It mandates immediate enforcement, according to The Guardian.

The president of the National Collegiate Athletics Associations (NCAA) said the association welcomed the order and would "align" NCAA policy accordingly.

According to the Associated Press, over half of voters surveyed said support for transgender rights in government and society has gone too far.

Enforcement

However, the ban may be difficult to enforce, reported Reuters.

Trump's order, as it is, "offers little guidance" on enforcing the ban beyond looking into best practices.

These include checking birth certificates, and inspecting children's bodies to determine their assigned sex at birth.

But the former can be altered, and the latter can create "serious harm to all women and girls who are perceived as 'more masculine'", said Chris Mosier, founder of a website on school policies related to transgender athletes.

Another method, previously used at the Olympics, involves testosterone testing — but such a method is highly flawed, a professor said.

"Are we going to test nine-year-olds for testosterone? Are we going to make nine-year-old boys and girls undergo physical inspections? This raises a whole host of issues," she told Reuters.

The ban is the latest in the slate of anti-trans executive orders introduced by the Trump administration.

Previously, he signed an order calling for the federal government to define sex as "only male or female", based on reproductive cells, and for this to be shown in official documents like passports.

And last week, he signed an order banning gender transition — both surgical and nonsurgical — for youths under 19 years old.

Top image from AFP