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President Donald Trump has signed an executive order prohibiting transgender athletes from participating in girls’ and women’s sports in the US.
Trump gazetted the order titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” on Wednesday.
The US president claimed that the new order would put an end to “the war on women’s sports” in the country.
The signed order gives the US Department of Education the responsibility to ensure schools nationwide comply with the directive.
“If you let men take over women’s sports teams or invade your locker rooms, you will be investigated for violations of Title IX and risk your federal funding,” Trump said.
The directive would be stretched to prevent transgender athletes from competing against females in International Olympic Committee (IOC) competitions hosted in the US.
The decision may be consequential at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
The order is the latest episode in what LGBT rights activists have considered Trump’s on the community in the US.
During his inauguration speech, Trump declared that there are only two sexes in the US: male and female. The announcement was considered discriminatory against transgender people in the country.
The participation of transgender women in female sports has been a contentious topic in recent years, with its reception mixed.
In 2023, World Athletics banned athletes who had gone through male puberty from the female competitions it organised.
A year before, the International Swimming Federation (FINA) also prohibited transgender women whose transition process began later than the age of 12 from competing in female competitions.
The World Boxing Council (WBC), International Chess Federation and Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) have also taken measures to prohibit transgender women from female sports.
However, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has more lenient directives on transgender athletes in female sports.
Pascal Arogorn Ibe
