From The Whiteboard: Protecting Women’s Sports
Earlier this month President Donald Trump signed an executive order, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” with the goal of ending the injustice of biological men competing with and against women in the NCAA.
Despite the rules in place that are supposed to ensure women receive fair treatment in college sports, male athletes have continued to play for women’s teams under the NCAA. While this order appeared to be a victory for women’s sports, the NCAA still manages to find loopholes that allow transgender athletes to compete for women’s teams, providing little change to this injustice.
What Does this Mean?
Trump signed the order Feb. 5 in a monumental ceremony while surrounded by the next generation of female athletes, lawmakers and former NCAA athletes. The order states “It shall also be the policy of the United States to oppose male competitive participation in women’s sports more broadly, as a matter of safety, fairness, dignity, and truth.”
Despite Title IX separating men’s and women’s sports, the NCAA has allowed players assigned male at birth to play for women’s teams. This new executive order clearly defines sex as being the gender assigned at birth and explicitly prohibits males from participating in women’s competitive sports at an educational institution that receives government funding.
Finally, the war is over, and women will receive fairness, safety and equality in their sports … right?
The NCAA’s Response
It rings true that nothing good can last as the NCAA wasted no time to respond and continue to take no responsibility for the issues within the organization. One day following Trump’s executive order, the NCAA released its “Participation Policy for Transgender Student-Athletes,” and yes, it is just as ridiculous as it sounds.
The first issue with these guidelines presents itself in the policy’s name as there is no mention of transgender athletes within the policy itself. If they are abiding by the orders and prohibiting biological men from participating, why is the term “transgender” still a part of the discussion?
Though the NCAA has updated their guidelinesstating that “a student-athlete assigned male at birth may not compete on a women’s team,” their policy still leaves room for improvement. The NCAA lets schools determine player eligibility, and as we have already witnessed with programs such as San José State Women’s Volleyball, I am willing to bet that a number of universities will not be enforcing these guidelines.
Another issue that comes into play is that the NCAA leaves the matter up to the states, which is not a good sign considering many states cannot even define what a woman is.
The NCAA’s updated policy states that gender is assigned based on birth records. Unfortunately, the wave of gender confusion has already flooded the states. In 44 states, as well as Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, birth certificates can be altered to coincide with the gender of one’s choosing, according to Fox News. Furthermore, there is no way to verify if a birth certificate has been altered, leaving room for transgender athletes to continue to slip through the cracks undetected.
How can we move forward?
While the Trump administration continues to uphold its position to preserve the future of women’s sports, this is unfortunately an issue that is heavily reliant on the American people. Defining gender is not something that should be difficult, yet the age we live in proves otherwise.
Trump’s executive order is a step in the right direction; however, the American people must continue the fight to prevent men from encroaching on women’s sports. The NCAA gave a cowardly response, unwilling to protect the student athletes within its own organization.
This issue does not only apply to the NCAA, but also the U.S. Olympic Committee, which has remained quiet throughout this whole thing. If we want this order to stand and be enforced, it is up to us to not be silenced and to fight for equality in women’s sports.
The War on Women’s Sports Persists
Future generations of female athletes deserve a fair playing field, yet their rights are being handed to biological men who have no understanding of what womanhood truly is.
A powerful woman is not a man in lipstick and a dress. No, instead she can be found on the softball field, holding a hockey stick or sinking a free throw. The powerful women of America are athletes and young girls, continuing the fight for a league of their own.
White is the sports editor for the Liberty Champion. Follow her on X.
