Legal challenges like the ones against other executive orders aimed at transgender people are likely, and on Wednesday, the Trump administration sued Maine for not complying with the government's push to ban transgender athletes in girls' and women's sports.What is in the executive order?The biggest takeaway is that the Trump administration has empowered the federal government to take aggressive steps to go after entities — be they a school or an athletic association and now a state — that do not comply. It also investigated Maine and last week referred the case to the Justice Department.Determining 'sex' vs. 'gender' and how will that affect Title IX?Every administration has the authority to issue its own interpretations of the landmark legislation best known for its role in ensuring gender equity in athletics and preventing sexual harassment on campuses.Given the push-pull of how recent presidencies view Title IX, it has created a whiplash effect.Joe Biden signed an executive order on his first day in office that interpreted sex as "gender identity" under Title IX, a move that protected transgender athletes from being discriminated against if they wanted to participate in a sport that aligned with their gender identity, not their sex assigned at birth.Yet it took more than three years for Title IX regulations saying that to be finalized. "The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, the governing body for more than 200 small schools across the country, voted unanimously in 2023 to effectively ban transgender athletes from competing in women's sports.What about the Olympics?On a move most saw coming once Trump won a second term, his administration still managed to sneak in a curveball.The order calls for the office of the secretary of state to use "all appropriate and available measures" in hopes of having the International Olympic Committee come up with a uniform transgender policy.
Author: Will Graves
Published at: 2025-04-19 22:25:32
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